Extremely Lazy Sunday Brunch

Extremely lazy Sunday brunch is when we sleep to a ridiculous hour (noon), enjoy a leisurely coffee, and eventually get to figuring out something for brunch. Today, it turned out to be a veggie frittata with a little goat cheese on top.

Mushroom Onion Tomato Frittata With Chevre

9 Eggs, beaten
1 Large Onion, sliced thinly
1 large tomato, sliced in thick slices
8 oz. Sliced Button Mushrooms
4 Cloves Garlic, minced
4 oz. Chevre
2 T. Olive Oil

Preheat oven to 425F.

In a large, oven safe, skillet heat 1 T. olive oil and cook mushrooms over medium-high heat until lightly browned and tender. Remove mushrooms from pan, add remaining olive oil, and add onions and tomatoes to the pan. Put the onions on one side and the tomatoes on the other. allow the tomatoes to begin to get soft (1-2 minutes) and the flip and allow to cook 1 minute longer. Cook the onions until lightly golden. Add mushrooms back to pan and spread everything out into an even layer. Layer in tomato slices and pour over beaten eggs. Crumble chevre and spread evenly over the top. When the sides of the egg look like they are starting to set, put pan in the preheated oven and bake 20-25 minutes, or until the eggs are almost fully set and there's very little movement in the center. Remove from the oven and allow to sit for 5 minutes before turning out on a plate and cutting into wedges.

Makes 8 servings.

Nutrition Roundup: Calories 165.3, Total Fat 12.0 g, Cholesterol 214.8 mg, Sodium 147.6 mg, Total Carbs 4.9 g, Dietary Fiber 0.9 g, Protein 10.2 g.

 

Granny's Comfort Food

I don't remember a lot about my grandmother's cooking, mainly because she had a teeny tiny apartment and so we usually went to restaurants when we went to visit. This dish, however, is something I remember having and loooove. I think my dad made it a few times when I was a child, too. Technically, it's a pasta fagiole, but I didn't make the pasta, because I still haven't tried eating it. I'm not ready to go there in Carb World just yet.

Pasta Fagiole

3/4 - 1 lb. dried white beans - navy or cannelini (I usually make the whole lb.)
4-6 oz. Pancetta, in 1cm cubes
1 large/2 medium onions, sliced thinly
2-4 Cloves garlic, minced
1 C. White wine (optional)
Rind from 1 mediumish piece of parmeggian reggiano, cut in 2-3 pieces
Grated parmeggiano reggiano (1/2 C. or so for topping)
4-5 springs Fresh Thyme
2-3 medium tomatoes, chopped (optional)
4-5 C. Chicken broth
Olive oil
Salt & Pepper

This can be made either in a Dutch oven (for a 1 pot meal) or first in a skillet and then a casserole dish for the baking.

Soak beans overnight. Rinse beans and simmer until soft in fresh water. Drain and set aside.
Preheat oven to 350F-375F. In a skillet or Dutch oven, heat olive oil and brown off pancetta. When brown, remove to a dish. In same oil, cook onions until just golden and then add garlic and cook 1 minute longer. Deglaze pan with white wine, if using, and allow it to reduce by half. Otherwise, deglaze pan with 1 C. broth. If using a Dutch oven, just proceed with the one pot. If using a skillet and casserole dish, transfer onion-wine mixture to the baking dish. Add the cooked and drained beans, pancetta, thyme, tomatoes (if you want), salt and pepper, and pour in the chicken broth until everything is covered. Nestle the pieces of the cheese rind in a few places around the dish, drizzle the top w/a little olive oil, put it in the oven to bake until the beans are very soft and the liquid has reduced. The top may be a little browned. You can help this by sprinkling the top w/grated cheese. If it looks like it’s getting too dry and the beans aren’t quite soft yet, top it off with a little more broth and continue cooking.

Serve over your favorite cooked pasta.

Midwinter Seafood Fra Diavolo

I had a craving for shellfish today, so the wife and I splurged a little and picked up some fresh PEI mussels and wild caught cod filet during the weekly grocery shop. Well...I guess it wasn't so much of a splurge, since the mussels were on sale and we only bought 1/2 lb. of the cod - the whole thing came to about $9.

Anyway! I fixed my craving with this flavorful pasta-free Seafood Fra Diavolo. I've flavored the broth with tomatoes, garlic, hot pepper flakes, oregano and a smidge of basil. This is a quick 1-pot meal that takes less than 30 minutes to prepare.

Seafood Fra Diavolo

1/2 - 3/4 lb. Cod Filet (skinless), cut into 2" or 3" chunks
4 lbs. Fresh Mussels, scrubbed and debearded
1 28 oz. Can Tomato Puree
1 C. Fat Free Reduced Sodium Chicken Broth
2-6 Cloves garlic, smashed/cracked open
1 pinch - 1 t. Hot Pepper Flakes (to taste)
1/2 t. Basil
1 t. Oregano
Salt to taste

Heat 1 T. olive oil in a large pan. Add garlic and cook on medium heat until it just starts to brown. Add  pepper flakes and cook 1 more minute. Add tomato puree and broth and heat to simmering. Add basil, oregan, and salt and stir to combine. Gently drop in the cod filet and allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Add in mussels, cover, and allow it to simmer for 3 minutes. Check every 1 minute after that and remove from heat as soon as the mussels have opened.

I served this family style in a big shallow bowl with all the broth and pan juices and I imagine it would be delicious with crusty bread for dipping. This serves about 4-5 hungry non-gastric bypass diners.

The nutritional info (from sparkrecipes.com): Calories: 288.7, Total Fat 7.5 g, Cholesterol 88.2 mg, Sodium 824.7 mg, Total Carbs 13.7 g, Dietary Fiber 1.3 g, Protein: 38.4 g.

My wife, stealing a taste during the photo shoot. :-)

Week One - Italian Style Chicken Meatballs

I made it through the first week! After a ridiculous amount of fluids, I saw the surgeon and nutritionist this morning and was cleared to begin solid foods again! Woo! My first "meal" was an ounce of low fat sharp cheddar cheese (natch, cheese obsessed as I am.) This evening, however, I'm finally venturing back into the kitchen for something other than popsicles! To celebrate, I've written a new recipe for Italian style chicken meatballs. I did my best to give them loads of flavor without adding loads of fat and carbs and I think I (mostly) succeeded.

Italian Style Chicken Meatballs

• 1 lb. Ground Chicken
• 1 Egg
• .25 C. (scant) Italian Bread Crumbs, plus a little for sprinkling
• 1 t. Basil, crushed
• 2 t. Mrs. Dash Garlic & Herb
• 1/3 C. Grated Parmeggiano Cheese
• .25 t. Salt
• Olive Oil

Preheat oven to 350F. Combine everything except the olive oil in a large bowl, using a fork to ensure even mixing. On a baking sheet lined with no-stick foil, portion out the ground meat mixture with a 1" scoop. Sprinkle the tops of each meatball with a tiny bit of bread crumbs and spray lightly with olive oil.

Bake until the interior of the meatballs measure 165F (about 8-10 minutes.) Remove from oven and allow to rest 2-3 minutes. Serve with your favorite marinara sauce and pasta.

Yield: approx. 30 meatballs

According to sparkrecipes.com, the nutritional values (per meatball and not including sauce) is: Calories 36.1, Total Fat 2.0 g, Cholesterol 19.2 mg, Sodium 84.8 mg, Total Carbs 1.1 g, Dietary Fiber 0.1 g, Protein 3.4 g.