Healthy Feta Veggie Frittata – Eggs aren’t just for breakfast!

A finished slice! (Or two)

First, if you don’t use Trader Joe’s low fat feta, get on board. There are only 320 calories in the whole block so you can load it on! I love this frittata because it only requires dirtying one pan and a cutting board, and you get protein from the eggs and a lot of your veggie servings for the day.

You will need:

• 1 block of TJ’s low fat feta
• 12 eggs - 6 whole and 6 whites
• 1 bag of 9 or 10 oz baby spinach
• Quart of cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half or quarters
• One medium head of broccoli, cut into small bite-sized pieces
• One summer squash, sliced into rounds and cut into quarters
• 2/3 cup fat free or 1% low fat cottage cheese
• Olive oil, salt, and pepper
• Oven at 350

I like to do the frittata in a cast iron pan, because it goes right from the stove to the oven and makes a crisp crust.

Whisk together the 6 whole eggs and 6 whites with a pinch of salt and pepper. Set aside. Crumble the block of feta and set aside.

Tomatoes, squash and broccoli

Heat the cast iron on medium heat. Swirl a little bit of olive oil in the pan and add spinach. Cook, turning constantly until wilted, remove into a colander, and use a paper towel to press out excess water. You might want to wait until it cools a little or risk burning your hands. Unless you’re a mom, in which case you almost certainly have a superhuman ability to handle hot things.

Add tomatoes to the cast iron. Add broccoli and squash and stir well. Add another drizzle of olive oil if the veggies are sticking to the pan. Cook until the tomatoes and squash have lost most of their water and the broccoli is soft on the outside but still a little crunchy when you bite into it.

Evenly distribute the spinach over the tomatoes and broccoli, followed by the feta. Pour the egg mixture slowly into the cast iron. Not because it matters for the recipe, but because it’ll splash out if you pour it too quickly. You’ll also want to pour it in a kind of circular motion all over the pan, so the egg gets evenly in between the veggies. Add the cottage cheese in teaspoon full dollops. Leave it cooking on the stove, without stirring, on medium-low for 5-7 minutes, until the egg starts to get firm around the edges of the pan. Transfer to the oven for 15-20 minutes; until you can shake the pan and it wobbles but the eggs are not still gooey.

I cut the frittata into 6 slices, and each slice has about 220 calories. Obviously, I ate 2 slices.

Left: just before it goes in the oven. Right: after it comes out! Yum melty cheese.