Tomato, Basil & Kale Frittata

Are you a fan of kale?

I've been on a bit of a kale kick lately, ever since my sister came over and made us a batch of kale chips. They were SO good, I couldn't stop eating them. 

For once, I didn't feel guilty, because kale is a "super food."  

I pinky swear to you that the word that popped into my mind was...

SuperKALEifragilisticexpialidocious.

I know, I scare myself sometimes.   

Kale is said to have amazing nutritional powers. Eating it regularly may protect us from cancer and lower our cholesterol.  

When I heard that it might lower cholesterol, I figured that if I ate a ton of kale with my cheese, they would cancel each other out, and my cholesterol would remain stable. Makes sense, right?

No? Well, until someone can prove otherwise, I'm going with that.

Junior Goo Shoes wanted to know what kale was. I told him it was a leafy green vegetable, like spinach. He had this baffled look on his face, and said...

"I thought it was some kind of duck." 

Then it was my turn to look perplexed... until I realized what he meant. 

Quail. 

He was confusing kale with quail.

Now that would be a very different kind of chip. 

He's been saying funny stuff like that since he was a tot. 

Like when he thought that cream cheese was called "green cheese." 

Anyway, it turned out that he really liked the quail chips...sorry, I mean kale chips. (I got such a kick out of the mix-up that I started calling kale "quail," just for laughs, and now I can't say it the right way unless I really concentrate).  

I felt like I hit vegetable pay dirt, and was determined to try to incorporate it into other dishes.

So when a friend came over for brunch today, I decided to make a kale frittata.  

I found a recipe online, from Hummusapien, which by the way, is a great blog, full of healthy recipes. It was called a quiche, but to me, it is more like a frittata.

I liked this recipe because it seemed healthier than others...it used 4 egg whites in addition to 3 whole eggs, and it called for milk (I used low fat) instead of cream. And, there was no crust, shaving off a few calories, which I then deposited in my dessert account. I made a chocolate zucchini cake -- recipe to come next week :)

I modified the frittata just a bit: I sauteed the onion, garlic and kale, and added some crumbled turkey bacon (nitrite and nitrate-free).

It was easy-peasy to make. You know me, I'd rather do anything but cook, but this was more like baking. 

I planned to serve the frittata with a simple salad and croissants, but I was a little nervous about how it would come out. Just to be safe, I had some bagels and lox on the side, in case I had to dump the frittata in the garbage. 

The truth of the matter is that Jewish people simply do not know how to serve brunch without bagels and lox. 

When I took the frittata out of the oven, it was gaw-geous! So far, so good!

I held my breath until everyone took a bite...we loved it! Whew.

I'd like to say that no one needed to eat the bagels and lox, but uh-uh...

We ate it all.  

Tomato, Basil & Kale Frittata
(adapted from Hummasapien) 
 
3 eggs
4 egg whites
1/2 cup milk (I used 1%)
1/4 -1/2 cup shredded cheese (I used 1/2 cup of 5-cheese Italian mix)
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 cup kale, chopped and packed tight
3 slices turkey bacon (I used Applegate  Naturals Uncured Bacon)
1 medium tomato, chopped 
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Spray a 9 or 10 inch pie plate with cooking spray and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, egg whites and milk.
Saute onions and garlic, until onion just starts to get soft. Remove from pan; set aside.
Saute kale until just starting to wilt. Set aside.
Cook bacon until it is well-browned, and crumble.
Add cheese, onion, kale, turkey bacon, tomato, basil, garlic, salt and pepper into egg mixture. Stir to combine. 
Pour into pie plate and bake for about 36 minutes or until middle is set.



Enjoy! And feel free to serve without the bagels and lox. You won't need it.  

Unless you're Jewish :)

 
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