Roasted Beet Frittata with Goat Cheese

This was my first experience with beet greens. When I've bought fresh beets in the past (and it's been less than a year now) they've either been trimmed already, or the tops didn't look appealing enough to save. This time, however, the set of greens on my beets was so fresh and vibrant that I couldn't imagine throwing them away. Instead, I set out to find a great recipe for them.

My search led me to a starred post in my Google Reader, Roasted Beet Frittata with Beet Greens, Shallots, and Goat Cheese from Cara's Cravings. I've made a lot of great recipes from her blog, and this was no exception.

Roasted Beet Frittata with Beet Greens

from Cara's Cravings

serves 1 as written

1 small shallot, minced, about 20g

1 bunch fresh beet greens, rinsed well and rough-chopped

Freshly roasted beets, about 85g, sliced thin

2 large eggs

2 Tbsp non-fat milk

Salt and black pepper, to taste

1 oz soft goat cheese

1/4 oz chopped pecans

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. On the stovetop, heat a small, oven-proof skillet over medium heat. Spritz with cooking spray and add shallots. Cook for a few minutes until softened.

3. Add beet greens to skillet and continue to cook until wilted.

4. Whisk together eggs and milk; season with salt and pepper. Arrange beets on top of shallots and greens in skillet.

5. Raise the heat to medium-high and pour the eggs over the vegetables. Let cook without stirring for a few minutes so the bottom can set.

6. Crumble the goat cheese over the top and add pecans. Place skillet in preheated oven for 10 minutes, or until top is set.

I thought I had everything to make this as written, but it turns out the last of my pecans got tossed into my oatmeal this morning, so I subbed in pine nuts (which the little guy calls "pinecone seeds") and we proceeded without a hitch (the first pic above shows walnuts, which I thought I'd use, but decided against because of their stronger flavor). My 12" cast-iron skillet worked great for this recipe (use a pot-holder on the handles!) since I sort of doubled the recipe to feed the three of us. It was a little thin, but nobody seemed to mind.

When you use beet greens, make sure to rinse them really well. They are dirty, sandy little buggers! Even though I rinsed several times and spun them dry on food-prep day, I still had to let them sit in cold water tonight (twice) and swish them around to loosen all the grit.

As for quantities, I used two shallots, three whole eggs and two additional egg whites, about 128g of beets since that is what I had left after roasting some this weekend, 2 ounces of goat cheese, 0.5 ounces pinenuts, 1/4 cup of milk, and five fresh baby bella mushrooms to bulk it up a little more.

The H ate half of the skillet shown, and the little guy and I shared the other half. He happily gobbled up his slice, beets, greens and all, which blew me away. He loved that we called it "cheesy pinecone seed eggs." I've said it before--when it comes to kids (or picky husbands)--whatever works!

I love how quickly and easily this came together, considering that my beets and greens were already mostly prepped, and my goat cheese was pre-crumbled. While this was on the stovetop I thought two things: 1) add the cheese and nuts right after you add the eggs, so the cheese can really soften and the nuts can "settle" into the eggs more, and 2) this would make a beautiful addition to a Mother's Day brunch--I will definitely be making it again, and probably very soon.