Squash Frittata

My favorite thing about summertime is the fresh produce – tomatoes, berries, corn, beans, peppers, cucumbers and last but not least – squash. My in-laws have about 60 laying hens and a large, high-yielding garden and I get to reap the benefits! This Sunday, they brought me zucchini, cucumbers and the pretties yellow squash you ever did see. I love eating squash raw and chopped up, sauteed, in pasta, soups and many other ways but I always seem to get into a rut with squash and find myself racking my brain for something different. There are the ubiquitous dishes like squash casserole and fried squash but I feel that those dishes tend to overcook the squash and really downplay how wonderful it is.

I remembered a beach trip last spring during which my fiance and I stopped at a lovely cafe for brunch and I had the best quiche of my life. I could make a squash quiche! No.. too heavy for the 100 degree weather yesterday and I really didn’t want to bother with a crust. Squash frittata it is! Like quiches are frittatas are made for, the ingredients in this frittata are items from my refrigerator desperately needing to be used up. That’s the beauty of frittatas – you can add just about anything your heart desires. I feel like this would have been good with turkey and brie as well but I didn’t happen to have those on hand. I had this for supper but you can have frittata any time of day.

Squash Frittata

2 medium yellow squash, sliced into thin rounds
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 oz deli ham, chopped
1 small red onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 c fresh parsley, finely chopped
1/4 c chevre, crumbled
1/4 c hard cheese, such as manchego
sea salt, pepper, to taste
olive oil

Heat oven to broiler setting.

Heat 2 T olive oil in a nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Add onions, garlic, squash and ham to pan and saute until vegetables are just softened. Season with salt and pepper and transfer to a bowl to cool. Wipe out pan.

Add vegetable mixture, parsley and cheese to lightly beaten eggs. Stir until well combined. Salt and pepper to taste.

Heat 2 T olive oil to nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Pour in egg mixture and cook until edges start to solidify. Place pan in oven and allow to cook for about 3 more minutes or until set.

You may flip over onto a serving plate or just serve straight from the pan.

Serve while hot with a dollop of plain Greek yogurt.

Squash-Chèvre Stacks

This week’s trip to the farmer’s market sent me home with a nearly endless supply of yellow squash, simply because I couldn’t resist it. Not wanting to slice it up and sauté it, I felt I hit a squash roadblock. I made great stuffed squash about a month ago but really wanted to keep the entirety of the squash intact so stuffing was out of the question. After searching Pinterest for about an hour, I had gotten nowhere. Then, I suddenly remembered the eggplant, mozzarella and tomato stacks that I find so tasty and the following recipe came to me.

Ingredients:

8 yellow squash, necks cut and halved lengthwise
2 T olive oil
1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
8 oz. chèvre (I used a rosemary chèvre)
2 medium tomatoes, thinly sliced
10-15 Tuscan kale leaves, rinsed and whole
1 T olive oil with orange
½ c water
Shaved Parmesan or other hard cheese

1. Set oven to 425 F.
2. Add 2 T olive oil to a large pan and heat over medium-high. Once oil has heated, add garlic and sauté for about 2-3 minutes. Add halved squash, flesh side down. Cook for about 3-4 minutes or until squash just begins to brown.
   
3. Line baking pan with foil and spray with coconut oil or other cooking spray. Arrange squash, flesh side up, on pan.
4. Spread desired amount of chèvre on squash and then layer one tomato slice atop each squash half.
5. Add shaved parmesan to top of each stack.
6. Bake 15-18 minutes or until parmesan begins to golden. If desired, sparingly sprinkle with sea salt.
   
7. While squash is baking, add water to the same pan used for squash. Add kale to pan, drizzle with orange olive oil. Cook over medium-high heat for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
8. To serve, plate the kale and top with desired number of squash stacks.

This made for a colorful and hearty dish served with bourbon-marinated ribeyes, meaning Caleb got a huge ribeye and a few squash stacks and I had about four of these and a 4 oz. steak.