CSA Dinner Frittata

Oh yum! One of the best things about being a cook is when you can take leftovers or raw ingredients and make a world-win creation. We are coming off a four-day holiday and are about to leave for our week vacation, so I was intent on making dinner with only what we had. When I came home to find that my thawed shrimp had gone bad I was already out of ideas.

However, my last CSA pick-up was a new batch of vegetables including heirloom tomatoes, fingerling potatoes and leeks. And of course kale. So after a few searches on recipe search lists I came up with a pretty delicious frittata that is hearty enough for dinner, but yummy enough to eat any meal of the day.

CSA Dinner Frittata

1-1.5 lb fingerling potatoes, cleaned and cut to one inch pieces

2 heirloom tomatoes (mr. stripey, german queens or similar size), chopped

1 pound kale (about three handfuls), chopped

1-2 bullion cubs, beef or vegetable

1 tbsp olive oil

3 baby leeks or green onions, sliced

garlic, minced

crushed red pepper

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

6 eggs

1/4 -1/3 c. grated smoked Gouda or other smoky cheese

coarse salt and pepper

1/4 c. grated Parmesan

hot sauce, such as Louisianna

Set a pot of water to boil. Cut potatoes half longways and then into thirds, eliminating rough or discolored pieces. I never peal my potatoes unless they are pretty old - the skin is very nutritious. Boil potatoes 10-15 minutes or until slightly soft - they should not be 'mashed potato' soft.

Meanwhile sauté olive oil with garlic and leek/onion over medium heat. My CSA leeks are scallion-sized and I think the taste is more conducive to this recipe, but I have never found leeks that petite in grocery stores so use what you can find. Once the garlic is brown add crushed red pepper. I use more than most but 0.5 tsp should be enough heat for anyone. I highly recommend using heirloom tomatoes because the 'meat' of the tomato is more savory and there is less need to seed the tomato. When chopping your tomato avoid white and hard parts.

When potatoes are done, fish them out with a slotted spoon and add them to the skillet with the tomatoes and lemon juice and cover. Add the bullion cubes (I added two for more flavor but it depend on how much water you still have in your pot) to boiling water. Once cubes are dissolved, add chopped kale. You should have one part potato, one part tomato and two parts kale. Boil kale about 3-4 minutes or until tender. Stir potato mix occasionally to avoid sticking.

Preheat oven 350 degrees. In a large bowl mix potato mixture and kale. Add coarse salt and pepper. Let mixture cool. In a smaller bowl beat smoky cheese, eggs and coarse salt and pepper. In a greased deep dish pie pan spoon vegetables until evenly distributed. I actually had a lot of leftover vegies but there is an incentive to make another frittata. Pour egg mixture over the vegetables and slightly blend together. Top frittata with parm cheese.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until egg is set. I broiled the frittata for about 4 minutes to get a good brown on top. Let cool slightly before serving. Serve with hot sauce. My sister sent me an African care package with a hot sauce that is so flavorful and spicy. It is a new favorite in my house, but a decent domestic alternative is Louisiana. I am not a Tabasco fan but it will suffice.

It took a lot of will power not to eat the whole thing last night - it was so good. I also used the leftovers for breakfast so this is an all around meal. I was also able to use so many leftovers. I tagged this recipe cheap because I literally didn't have to buy anything. The used leftover cheese, took out the rest of my eggs and my vegetables from my CSA. This meal is also a high score on the vegetable list as well.