Vegetable and Goat Cheese Frittata

First I have to apologize for going AWOL with my posts these past two weeks. We were away on family vacation in Aspen and Palm Beach, and that means eating out basically every night, and any rare night that we do stay home, we are too exhausted to cook so we order in pizza or mediocre Chinese in Aspen, or room service in Palm Beach.

My family has been to going Aspen for over 20 years, and we love it. Aspen really is an amazing ski location with some of the best restaurants – Matsuhita (by Nobu), Casa Tua, Steakhouse No. 316, White Horse Tavern, La Hostaria…just to name a few. So that I didn’t completely fall off the social media map, I posted on my Instagram, @itsdelizious, some of the amazing dishes and meals that I had while on my trip.

We had an amazing week in Aspen! Both kids were on skis in ski school all day and really loved it! It has always been a dream of mine to ski down the mountain with my kids and I can finally see that this will come true one day! My hubby and I got some great skiing in as well – he even went down his first Double Black! #proudskiwife! But after a week of hard skiing, heavy eating, snow and cold, we were all ready to head down south to Palm Beach for some much needed sun, swimming ad salads (and drinks with umbrellas of course).

After a week on skis, the kids were so excited to get in the pool. They spent basically every minute of every day in the pool, stopping only for snacks, lunch, s’mores…you get the idea. Once our fingers were sufficiently pruned and our tans/sunburns were complete, it was time to come home. So Saturday afternoon we pack up and after almost 2 weeks, we head home. Even though our time in Florida was mostly relaxing, being gone for that long with kids is still exhausting. When we got home, the hubs and I entered unpacking mode and by the time we were finished, we were spent – so that in addition to the fact that we had no food in the house, we ordered dinner and went to bed.

Now it was Sunday and time to get back on track. We took the kids out in the morning to get out some energy, then in the afternoon it was time to get ourselves organized to get back to school and back in our routine. So I sat down for my usual Sunday meal planning session. Once I figured out the week, I realized I hadn’t decided on a meal for that night. I was in the mood for easy and light, so I went for a Roasted Vegetable and Goat Cheese Frittata with a salad on the side.

I kept my ingredient list simple, just using asparagus, mushrooms and shallots as my vegetables. Quick trick for trimming asparagus – the ends of asparagus are woody and not very appetizing, but how do you know how much of the end to cut off? Take one stalk, hold it by the ends and bend it until it snaps. Line it up with the remaining stalks and cut them all at the same length. Now cut the asparagus and mushrooms into bite sized pieces and dice up the shallots.

Up next, prepare the egg mixture. I use 8 eggs, but I only use 4 yolks. I don’t love the taste of too many whole eggs, but you can adjust your mixture however you like. To the eggs, add milk, salt and pepper, and whisk together until light and frothy.

In a large ovenproof saucepan, sauté the vegetables for 3-4 minutes until they begin to soften. Spread them out in the pan into an even layer so that the whole frittata has a consistent amount of veggies in each bite. Now pour in the eggs and allow them to spread throughout the pan. Now the key – let them sit. Do not mess with the egg mixture for 2 minutes while the base sets.

Once the eggs begin to set, drop in dollops of goat cheese all around the pan. Now place the pan in a preheated 425 degree oven. Cook for 5 minutes, allowing the eggs to begin to cook through and set.

Remove the pan from the oven and lay the roasted red peppers on the frittata then top with a sprinkle of cheddar cheese. Place the pan back in the oven for another 6-8 minutes, allowing the cheese to melt and the eggs to cook through.

While the frittata cooks, assemble the side salad. Start with the dressing. Along the side of my blog, you will see the area where I highlight certain ingredients. Right now my Ingredient Spotlight is on the lemon, and one of my favorite lemon “recipes” is this Simple Lemon Vinaigrette from Ina Garten (of course). Whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper and voila! Doesn’t get any easier than that! Dress your lettuce lightly with the dressing and place it on the plates.

Pull the frittata out of the oven and allow to cool for 2-3 minutes so it stays together when you slice it. Cut a slice and serve atop the salad. It’s the perfect Sunday night meal when you want something light, filling and easy while you prepare for the week ahead.