I find frittatas tend to make a fairly decent low-effort-but-nutritious breakfast/brunch option. You get protein from the eggs and it's relatively easy to work in at least some veg. They're very flexible. And one frittata will feed all three of us for two meals, which is handy.

This frittata recipe comes courtesy of The Breakfast Bible (which I'm still working my way through). It's meant to be made with parsley, basil, mint, chives, cherry tomatoes, and gruyère. We were all out of fresh basil, so I ended up substituting dried. And our chives had gone off, so I tossed in a small green onion instead. For the cherry tomatoes, I ended up using up some leftover diced tomatoes we had sitting in the fridge. And I ended up going for grated cheddar rather than gruyère because that's what we had on hand. (Although TF and I both think that mozzarella would've also worked really well.) For the topping, I ended up using some baby spinach rather than the arugula, but they're both good options. I know that's a lot of changes, but it still worked out well and gave us a tasty breakfast (and used up some leftovers from the fridge), so I have no complaints!

Frittata with Herbs and Tomatoes

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 10 large eggs
• 2 Tbsp. milk
• 2 Tbsp. chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil (or 1/2 Tbsp. dried)
• 1 tsp. chopped fresh mint
• 1 tsp. chopped fresh chives (or 1 small green onion, chopped)
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1/4 c. grated gruyère (or mozzarella or cheddar)
• 1/2 c. halved cherry tomatoes (or diced tomatoes)
• 3 c. arugula (rocket)
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil (optional)
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
2. Beat the eggs with the milk.
3. Mix in the parsley, basil, mint, chives, salt, and pepper.
4. Melt the butter over medium heat.
5. Pour in the egg mixture and sprinkle with cheese and tomatoes.
6. Cook, without stirring, for 2 minutes.
7. Transfer to oven and bake for 10-12 minutes.
8. If frittata is still undercooked in the centre or insufficiently browned on top, place under broiler for 1-2 minutes to set.
9. Meanwhile, toss arugula with olive oil and lemon juice (if using) and season with a little extra salt and pepper.
10. Once frittata is cooked, top with arugula, cut into wedges, and serve.

Makkai Parangikai Kari (Corn Curry)

This curry is meant to be made with corn and white pumpkin, but Iyer suggests the using the inner rind of a watermelon as an alternative to the pumpkin, so I decided to give that a go. We had lots of watermelon that needed to be used anyway, so I figured that saved me going out and trying to find another ingredient.

Makkai Parangikai Kari

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh ginger
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns
• 1/4 tsp. cardamom seeds (from green pods)
• 2 fresh green¹ Thai, finger, or serrano chilies, stems removed
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1 c. coconut milk
• 2 c. fresh or frozen corn kernels
• 450g white pumpkin (or inner watermelon rind), peeled and seeded and cut into 2cm cubes
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
• 12 fresh or frozen curry leaves
• 1 c. water

Directions

1. Combine ginger, peppercorns, cardamom seeds, chilies, and salt in a molcajete and grind/pound to form a pulpy paste.
2. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
3. Add the mustard seeds, cover, and cook until they have stopped popping (30-60 seconds).
4. Add the coconut milk.
5. Stir in the paste from the molcajete, then remove from heat and allow mixture to sit for a minute or so.
6. Add the corn, pumpkin (or watermelon rind), cilantro, curry leaves, and water.
7. Return to heat and bring to a boil.
8. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are fork tender (~15 minutes).
9. Serve topped with your favourite chutney. (I like sonth/tamarind-date chutney.)

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¹ I had a few leftover fresh red finger chilies on hand, so I just used those instead here. It changed the colour of the curry (making it more pinkish than green), but was very similar otherwise. ^Back

Omita Khaar (Bitter Green Papaya Curry)

I cheated a bit on this curry. It's meant to be made with green/unripe papaya. Unfortunately, I didn't have any of that. What I did have, though, was a bunch of kohlrabi that's been going begging in the fridge because I got it by accident in one of my produce boxes. And it turns out that kohlrabi actually makes a decent substitute for unripe papaya! Score!

This is one of those very simple curries that I always feel a bit nervous making. There really doesn't seem to be enough to it for it to be acutally... good. Just papaya, a couple of chilies, and some salt, mustard seeds, and baking powder? No garlic, no onion... not even any turmeric! That can't possibly turn into something tasty, right?! Especially when it's made with something as dubious as unripe papaya. And the fact that the recipe aims to double down on the bitter elements also did not instill a great degree of confidence in me. TF and I aren't generally that big on bitter flavours in general. But, you know what, this was actually pretty good! I mean, don't get me wrong, it wasn't a revelation or anything. It's not anyone's new favourite. But, considering the number and nature of the ingredients? It definitely exceeded my expectations for it!

So, if you find yourself in possession of kohlrabi and/or unripe papaya and aren't sure what else to do with it. I can genuinely recommend this recipe. It's not going to take centre stage on its own, but it makes a lovely vegetable side dish to go along with the rest of the meal.

Photo goes here.

Omita Khaar

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 680g unripe papaya (or kohlrabi)
• 2 Tbsp. mustard oil
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds¹
• 2 fresh green² Thai, finger, or serrano chilies, halved lengthwise
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 c. water

Directions

1. Cut off the heel and stem ends of the papaya, peel it, and slice it in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and "guts", then cut the flesh into 1.5cm cubes. (If using kohlrabi, peel it and cut it into cubes.)
2. Heat the mustard oil over medium-high heat.
3. Add the mustard seeds, cover, and cook until they stop popping (30-60 seconds).
4. Add the papaya (or kohlrabi) and chilies and stir-fry until papaya just begins to brown (4-5 minutes).
5. Add the baking powder and salt and stir-fry for another 4-5 minutes.
6. Add the water, stir to combine, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until papaya is fork tender but still holds its shape (15-20 minutes).

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¹ The original recipe only calls for 1/2 tsp. of mustard seeds, but I'm so used to 1 tsp. being the default amount that I just went on autopilot and put a full tsp. in. That said, I really liked the result, so I think I'd do it that way again in the future. Alternatively, it might be interesting to try making it with panch phoron either as well as or instead of the mustard seeds. I've seen recipes for omita khaar online that call for it and I think the additional spices would go quite well! ^Back
2 I have a bunch of green finger chilies in the freezer. That said, I still had two fresh red finger chilies in the fridge that needed to be used up before they went off, so I just tossed those in instead. Maybe not quite as visually harmonious as the green ones would have been, but still excellent flavour-wise. ^Back

I don't tend to make cookies very often. Even if I enjoy the results, I just don't enjoy the process. I find it tedious. But I've been eyeing this recipe for months. And I was craving a dessert last night. And I even still felt like I had a bit of energy left after dinner. So I figured, why not?

Unfortunately, I think there must be a typo in the original recipe. Because when prepared as written, the cookies spread like crazy and utterly lack any sort of structural integrity. TF commented that the last time she had cookies fail like that, it was because she'd accidentally put in twice as much butter as the recipe called for.

I definitely put in the specified amount of all the ingredients. But I now suspect that there was an error in the recipe and it was actually meant to call for 1/2 c. of butter, rather than the 1 c. actually listed.

If making these again, I'd definitely halve the butter. I might also try omitting the granualted sugar and just make it with brown sugar. Obviously this would make the cookies significantly less sweet, but I think they'd still be sweet enough. (And I'd feel a little less guilty eating them.)

I'm also debating whether it might be nice to swap out half of the chocolate for some sort of dried fruit. I know raisins are traditional for oatmeal cookies. But with the chocolate and almonds, I'm wondering if either cranberries or cherries would be a good choice.

I've given some options and suggestions below. (As well as adjusting the butter and sugar quantities.) All of these changes are, as yet, untested, so use at your own peril. That said, I can definitively confirm that the recipe as originally written does not work very well. So hopefully these changes will offer at least some improvement.

Chocolate Chip-Almond Oatmeal Cookies

Adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 c. brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 c. rolled oats
• 190-380g dark chocolate, chopped
• 1 c. slivered almonds
• 1 c. dried cranberries or cherries (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
2. Cream together the butter and the sugar.
3. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.
4. Sift in the flour and baking soda, add the salt, and mix well.
5. Stir in the rolled oats.
6. Add the chocolate, almonds, and dried fruit (if using) and stir to combine.
7. Drop spoonfuls of dough onto the prepared baking sheets.
8. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 10-12 minutes.
9. Let cool for 5-10 minutes before transferring to plate or rack to finish cooling.
10. Repeat baking process with remaining dough.

I really liked this curry. I think TF and the Kidlet preferred the chicken tikka masala that I made to go with it, but I actually preferred the lentils!

The original recpe called for French (Puy) lentils, but I didn't have quite enough left, so I ended up using a mix of French and brown lentils. I tend to prefer French lentils in general, but the mix was fine here. And brown lentils tend to be more common in Indian cooking anyway, so I didn't feel that it was a huge deal to fudge things with the lentils a bit.

Cooking the lentils with some herbs and veggies added great flavour, but picking out all the bits afterward was annoying. I think next time I'd put everything but the lentils in a little cheesecloth bag so that it could be easily pulled out and composted afterward. Either that, or just leave all the veggies in. They'll end up a bit mushy, of course, but it might be worth trying. I figure, if you chop everything up small, they'll just end up homogenizing into the sauce. Something to think about for next time...

Lentil, Potato, and Spinach Curry

Slightly adapted from Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 c. French (Puy) lentils
• 4 c. water
• 1 large carrot, cut into three pieces
• 1 rib celery, cut into three pieces
• 1 onion, half chopped, half left whole
• 5 sprigs parsley
• 1-2 Tbsp. canola oil or ghee
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp. bin bhuna hua garam masala
• 2 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 1 tsp. coriander seeds, ground
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 2 large red potatoes, cut into 1cm cubes
• 2 c. chopped frozen spinach
• 1/4 c. plain yogurt or raita, to serve (optional)

Directions

1. Rinse and drain the lentils.
2. Place lentils in a pot with the water, carrot, celery, onion half, and parsley and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
3. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until lentils are tender (~30 minutes).
4. Remove and discard the herbs and veggies.
5. Reserve the lentils and their cooking water separately. If there is less than 2 c. of liquid left, add water to bring the total volume to 2 c.
6. In the now empty pot, heat the oil (or ghee) over medium heat.
7. Add the chopped onion and garlic and cook until softened (~5 minutes).
8. Add the garam masala, cumin, coriander, salt, and pepper and cook for another minute or two.
9. Add the potatoes, lentils, and reserved cooking water and bring to a boil.
10. Cook until potatoes are fork tender (~15 minutes).
11. Stir in spinach and cook until heated through (2-3 minutes).
12. Serve topped with yogurt/raita, if desired.

This was an interesting combo. It essentially incorporates the toast as a topping for the eggs rather than a substrate. It works pretty well. Although I think I preferred the kielbasa and arugula scrambled eggs overall. Still, it was a fun experiment.

Scrambled Eggs with Dill, Cream Cheese, and Croutons

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. butter or bacon grease, divided
• 3/4 c. cubed stale bread
• 8 large eggs
• 2 Tbsp. milk
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 125g cream cheese
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh dill

Directions

1. Melt 1 Tbsp. of the fat over medium heat.
2. Add the bread and cook, stirring every minute or two, until nicely crisp. Transfer to plate and set aside.
3. Beat eggs with milk, salt, and pepper.
4. Add remaining 1 Tbsp. of fat to pan and reduce heat to medium-low.
5. Pour in eggs and cook until bottom beings to set (~3 minutes).
6. Add cream cheese and dill and stir it in.
7. Continue cooking until eggs are fully set.
8. Top with croutons and serve.

Trottole ai Gamberi e Funghi

This recipe is specced for long pasta like tonnarelli or fusilli lunghi, but we had a bag of never-before-seen trottole and decided to use that instead. As usual, we ramped up the quantity of sauce significantly compared to what the recipe calls for. The result was delicious, although the sauce took longer to make than planned due to taking longer to cook down the liquid.

The recipe also calls for heavy cream (35% MF) and raw, shelled shrimp. We have a surplus of half-and-half (10% MF) right now, so I used that and increased the quantity. For the shrimp, we had frozen cooked shelled shrimp, which I tossed into the sauce a bit earlier than called for to let them thaw; I might experiment with alternate approaches in the future, since they released a lot of moisture when doing so.

Trottole ai Gamberi e Funghi (Trottole with Shrimp and Mushrooms)

The Classic Pasta Cookbook by Guiliano Hazan (pp.104-105)

Ingredients

• 450-500g dried pasta
• 45g dried porcini mushrooms
• ½ C olive oil
• 1½-2 C yellow onions, halved and thinly sliced
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 650g fresh cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 450mL diced tomatoes (or whole plum tomatoes, smashed)
• ¾ C heavy cream, or 1½ C half-and-half
• 500-600g cooked peeled frozen shrimp
• freshly grated parmesan for serving

Directions

1. Place dried porcini in a bowl and pour over 1½ C warm water. Let stand 20 minutes.
2. Drain, reserving mushroom water. Rinse mushrooms and coarsely chop.
3. Pour mushroom water through a coffee filter and buffer.
4. Heat oil and onion in a large, deep-sided skillet over medium heat. Cook until the onion softens and turns golden.
5. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, 30-60 seconds.
6. Increase heat to medium-high and add the porcini and their filtered water. Cook, stirring often, until the water has evaporated.
7. Add the cremini slices, season with salt and pepper, and cook until they are tender and the water they release has evaporated.
8. Add the tomatoes and cook until about half the liquid has cooked off.
9. Meanwhile, start the pasta cooking.
10. Reduce heat to medium, add the cream, and cook until reduced by half.
11. Add the shrimp and simmer until thawed and heated through.
12. Toss with the cooked pasta and serve.