Johnny’s Frittata

In the morning, I like to have a really nutritious, protein packed meal to start my day off right. This frittata is exactly that. Eggs and whites, spinach, vegetables, and avocado make this one power house breakfast. I make this for breakfast for myself almost every day because it is just so good and sets me up for success throughout the day.

Johnny Frittata

  • Servings: 1-2
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Ingredients:

  • 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 full eggs
  • 1 cup egg whites
  • 1 tablespoon red onion, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons bell pepper, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons tomato, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons zucchini, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons mushrooms, chopped
  • 1 cup packed fresh spinach
  • 5 cubes avocado
  • Pinch salt and pepper
  • Pinch red pepper flakes
  • ½ teaspoon paprika
  • Salsa, optional

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 ̊F. Heat the oil in a small pan over medium-high heat until hot. Add the onion, pepper, tomato, zucchini, and mushrooms. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Sauté the vegetables until tender, about 4 minutes. Add the spinach and cook till wilted.

In the meantime, beat the eggs, egg whites, and paprika together in a large bowl. Once the spinach is wilted, pour the egg mixture into the pan so that it covers all the vegetables and spinach. Drop the avocado cubes throughout eggs.

Place in the oven and cook until cooked through, about 10-15 minutes. Remove and plate. Top with salsa and serve!

Summer Spaghetti

I write this on June 21, 2015, the Summer Solstice. It is a glorious warm and sunny day in Huntington Beach, CA that seems to foreshadow a luminous summer season ahead. As we dive into this summer, my foodie mind begins to think of foods that I should be making and eating to truly be able to taste this special season.

When I think of summer and food, I think of bright citrus flavors, fresh green herbs, seasonal vegetables like zucchini and summer squashes and plump cherry tomatoes, and succulent and lean seafood. And seeing as this particular day is a Sunday, I also think of pasta as it is traditional in my Italian-American family to have more Italian style dishes for traditional Sunday Supper. And so, today I combine all these flavors in one in my Summer Spaghetti.

This dish is very easy to make, requiring little effort, and is actually on the lighter side for a pasta dish which is perfect for summertime. Having this for dinner makes me feel like I am back in Italy on the Amalfi coast overlooking the blue Mediterranean while enjoying a delicious meal. I hope you can imagine the same as you enjoy this dish!

Summer Spaghetti

  • Servings: 4-6
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb spaghetti
  • 1 1b shrimp (figure 4-5 shrimp per person), deveined and removed of their tails
  • 1 zucchini squash cut into ½ rounds, then cut in half
  • 1 summer squash cut into ½ rounds, then cut in half
  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1 teaspoon crushed garlic
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • ½ cup lemon juice
  • ½ cup fresh chopped basil
  • ½ cup fresh chopped Italian parsley
  • 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • Pinch Red Pepper Flakes
  • Salt & Pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Place the zucchini, squash, and tomatoes on a baking sheet. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Roast for 25-30 minutes, tossing once halfway through, until veggies are tender.

In the last 10 minutes of cooking, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook until al dente, about 8-9 minutes. (PROTIP: Throw a spaghetti noodle at the wall, if it sticks to the wall, it’s done!)

Place the shrimp in a small baking dish and toss with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, the garlic, the red pepper flakes, and a ¼ teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Roast for 5 minutes until shrimp are pinkish orange.

In a large pasta bowl, whisk together the lemon zest, juice, remaining olive oil, ½ the basil and parsley, ¼ teaspoon of pepper, and ½ the parmesan cheese until well combined.

Drain the spaghetti and place in the bowl with the lemon mix. Add the additional parmesan and toss to coat. As you toss, the cheese will melt and toss the noodles! Add the veggies, shrimp, and remaining herbs. Toss until well mixed.

Garnish with additional parmesan cheese and herbs if desired. Enjoy!

 

 

Summer Spaghetti

A Good Morning

We live in a culture where morning is a mad rush of chaos, stress, and frantic energy. We have been trained that when the alarm clock goes off, we must fly out of the bed like a jet off of an airport runway and launch ourselves with reckless abandon into the day while repeating the mantra, “I must get as much done as possible, I must make as much money as possible, I must get as much done as possible,” etc etc. I have found that this mentality that we have adopted for the sunrise hours sets us up for a more stressful, not fulfilling, and negative day overall.

Luckily, there are small practices that you can weave into your current morning routine to inspire calm, healthy, positive energy for the rest of your day. Of course, mornings will continue to be busy. And I am sorry to say that if you are a commuter with children, that editing your morning routine as it is now is decidedly more challenging. I still, however, encourage you to try to start your day off on a better note by including one or two of these practices in your sunrise hours. You may have to wake up a bit earlier, you may have to do some prepping the night before, but the overall shift in your daily life will be well worth it.

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