"Everything in your fridge" frittata

Does anybody out there love having breakfast for dinner? Every so often, my dad likes to have eggs and bacon and toast for dinner, so this recipe is dedicated to him. Love you, Dad!

So a frittata is like a quiche, except it has no crust, and you don't use cream. It's easier to make, and it has a lot less fat! It's like a loaded scramble; you just don't scramble it. Enough of my rambling. Here are the ingredients:

Medium-sized nonstick pan, no rubber handle is best because then you can put it in the oven to finish the cooking. If you only have pans with rubber handles, that's fine. We will improvise.
6 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup of milk
Yellow onion
Bell pepper
mushrooms
Asparagus, spinach, broccoli, any other kind of veggies you can find in your fridge
1 potato, chopped and boiled in water for 20 minutes
1 cup shredded cheese, your choice, I like cheddar
3 tablespoons of butter
salt, pepper, dash of nutmeg
hot sauce (optional)

Boil your chopped potato first. While that's cooking, warm up your pan and add the butter. You want to sautee all your veggies until they are tender. Add salt and pepper. Beat your eggs and add the milk, nutmeg and cheese to your egg mixture. Once the potatoes are done, strain the water off. Toss the potatoes in with the veggie mix in the pan. Add a little more butter to the bottom of the pan so the eggs don't stick. Last step, pour in the egg mixture over the veggies. Take a wooden spatula and move the eggs around so they are evenly disbursed. Cover pan and reduce heat to medium/low. Let cook for about 15 minutes, or until firm. If you have a pan that is oven-safe, then finish the cooking in the oven at 350 for the same amount of time. Slice like a pie and splash hot sauce over your piece, if you're into that sort of thing. Serve with toast and some bacon or ham on the side, and you're having breakfast at night! Serves about 4.

Prize-winning Chicken Cordon Bleu

Thinly sliced chicken fillets, quantity depends on how many mouths you’ve got to feed!
1 egg, beaten
1 plate with flour, salt, pepper and paprika sprinkled and mixed
3 tablespoons of butter
Thin slices of ham and Swiss cheese

Pound out the chicken fillets to tenderize. But don’t pulverize them! Chicken breasts are very delicate. Next start an assembly line of breast fillets, placing one slice of ham and one slice of cheese on top of each fillet. Roll them each up and secure them with a toothpick. Get your pan heated up and melt butter. While pan is heating, coat the rolled fillets in your beaten egg, then roll around on the flour plate, coating generously. Place flour-coated fillets into heated pan and allow to brown, about 5 minutes. Carefully flip the fillets over, cooking the other sides for another 5 minutes. Cover the pan for a few minutes to fully cook. With the remaining butter, you will make a wine sauce. Add a little white wine and a teeny-tiny bit or cornstarch to the butter. If you don’t like the flavor or cornstarch, you can use some flour and more butter to create the base for your sauce. Add a very small amount of chicken broth, ¼ cup, squeeze a half lemon into the mix, and allow to thicken. Drizzle the wine sauce over the cordon bleu rolls on your serving dish.

This dish always tastes so juicy and creamy from the melted cheese. It is the perfect partner to some fresh roasted vegetables. I like to roast potatoes, mushrooms, carrots and a sliced onion with rosemary, salt and pepper in the oven while I am cooking this dish. Serve with a side salad, and you have a rather impressive gourmet meal to serve!

Incredible Lentil Soup

1 cup of dry lentils
6 cups of water or broth (I used water and then added “Better Than Bullion”)
Two carrots, chopped
Two celery stalks, chopped
1 potato, chopped
3 tomatoes, chopped
½ yellow onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic
Zucchini, chopped
Bunch of spinach, coarsely cut
Handful of basil, sliced into ribbons
Oregano, parsley, sage, to taste
1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar

Place one cup of lentils into pot and add 6 cups of water (or broth). Start heating on medium/high. Add carrots, celery, tomatoes, onion, potato and garlic. Let simmer for about 30 minutes. Next add the zucchini, herbs, spinach, drizzle olive oil, lemon juice and vinegar. Add salt and pepper to taste. Allow to simmer for another 30 minutes. Taste test a spoonful to make sure the lentils are tender, and if so, you are set to go! Ladle into bowls and enjoy with a fresh spinach and cubed tofu salad. I served my salad with an olive oil, lemon juice and garlic dressing. I threw in some kalamata olives, cucumbers and a sliced up mandarin. Toast up some bread to dip in the soup, and you have a light and very nutritious supper. Enjoy!

Rustic spinach and crushed bean Bruschetta

If you have leftover white cannellini beans from making the Greens and Beans soup, then let’s put those beans to use!

1 loaf of Sourdough bread, sliced
1 bag of spinach
Finely chopped yellow onion
2 cloves of garlic
Leftover white beans, drained of liquid (about 2 cups)
3 tablespoons of olive oil

Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a hot frying pan. Then add the white beans. You are essentially making refried beans, just with white beans and olive oil instead of vegetable oil and pinto beans. Fry up the beans, and crush them with a spatula as they are cooking. Add salt and pepper. You will end up with a scrumptious bean mash. In another pan, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to sautee the onion and garlic. Add a little salt and pepper. Then sautee the spinach. Just a few minutes is all it needs. Toast the sliced bread and smear the bean mash onto the toasts. Scoop the sautéed spinach over the bean mash, and you have a hearty partner to a nice bowl of soup. This recipe will probably make about 8 toasts.

Greens & Beans (courtesy of Sam)

1 large bunch of Swiss chard, cut coarsely
2 cups of white cannellini beans (or white navy beans, it’s just that cannellini beans have a more creamy, buttery flavor) You can make these from scratch, or out of the can works just fine.
2 garlic cloves, chopped or run through a garlic press
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
6 or more cups of vegetable or chicken broth (depends on how thick you want the soup)
Flaked red pepper (optional)
Parmesan cheese to garnish
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Salt, pepper to taste

In a large pot, sautee the chopped onion and garlic until translucent. Next add the broth and continue on low/medium heat. Add in the chopped chard and the beans. Let simmer for 20 minutes. Add salt, pepper, flaked red pepper. After ladling into bowls, shred Parmesan cheese over the soup. Serve with French or Sourdough bread. Delicious! This Italian soup is so simple and takes only 20 minutes to prepare, but is my absolute favorite soup of all times. It reminds me of Sam and makes me feel warm inside. Enjoy!