Smoked Salmon Frittata

This easy baked egg dish takes only three ingredients - two of which are some of the most nutritious powerhouses out there. It’s great for breakfast with some fruit, or a side salad for lunch or dinner!

Smoked Salmon Frittata | danicaliforniacooks.com I am a huge fan of breakfast. I actually go to bed sometimes excited about what I am going to have to eat in the morning! (Sigh - a day is just meals with the time in between thinking about your next meal). Anyways, I love having a relaxed brunch situation on the weekends, and eating something a little more special than whatever I grab on the way to client site during the week. But most of the time, I don’t want to spend my hours in the kitchen in the morning - I want something I can whip up quickly, or even something that I can make ahead and reheat in the morning. Oh, and if it’s good for my lunch or dinner that day too? Now we’re talking. Introducing - skillet frittatas!
Smoked Salmon Frittata | danicaliforniacooks.com I was first introduced to the idea of skillet omelets at Nate’s family farm, where they would whip these enormous omelets in skillets using whatever fresh vegetables they had around, and they often chopped up smoked salmon and then topped it off with a bunch of cheese. That, plus Nate’s mom’s homemade toast and fruit and homemade jam from the farm? Now that’s the way to start the weekend! This frittata that I have here isa much toned down version of that, but it packs a serious nutritional powerhouse punch. Smoked Salmon Frittata | danicaliforniacooks.com So I’m going to rattle the great things about this frittata off right now - you can make it the night before and serve it in the morning, can make it savory for lunch and dinner by adding toast or salad, or you can add fruit on the side for a sweeter breakfast start to the day. It travels great, heats up well in the microwave, and lasts two to three days in the fridge so you can have it for Saturday, Sunday, and then start off your Monday week right. Yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes. It’s also a crowd pleasing brunch dish. Another yes. Smoked Salmon Frittata | danicaliforniacooks.com It goes without saying, but this frittata is paleo, gluten free, and dairy free. You can double the recipe if you have a larger skillet or are serving a bigger crowd. I hope you enjoy as much as we did!

5.0 from 1 reviews
Smoked Salmon Frittata
 
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Smoked salmon, eggs, and green onions are baked together for the easiest make ahead dish that can be incorporated into any meal of the day!
Author:
Serves: 4-6 servings
Ingredients
  • 6 eggs
  • 2 tbsp green onion, sliced
  • ¾ cup chopped smoked salmon
  • Cooking spray of choice
  • Salt and pepper
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
  2. Whisk your eggs in a small mixing bowl
  3. Add the onions and and smoked salmon and lightly mix
  4. Coat a small cast iron skillet in cooking spray
  5. Pour in the egg mixture, and make sure the smoked salmon and onions are distributed evenly
  6. Sprinkle on a little salt and pepper
  7. Place the skillet over a medium burner for about five minutes, until the sides of the frittata start to cook
  8. Turn off the burner and place the skillet in the oven for about 10 minutes, until the eggs look cooked through in the middle. The top, middle part of the skillet will take the longest to cook so once that looks done, the rest of your frittata should be ready!
  9. Serve immediately, or store in your fridge for several days
Notes
For breakfast, I like to serve with a little toast or fruit
For lunch or dinner, a side salad works great!
This is also a crowd-pleasing brunch item, and can easily be made ahead


If you like this recipe, you’ll love: Sundried Tomato and Mozzarella Frittata for One

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Saturday Brunch @ The Tasting Kitchen

Lots and lots of thanks to those who reached out on yesterday’s post about going back to clean eating, spring break prep, and my arthritis and disordered eating pains. I really appreciate the love and support!

Anyways, I want to tell you about a fabulous meal we had this weekend! On Saturday, I landed at LAX from my biz trip and headed straight to brunch with my extended family at The Tasting Kitchen on Abbott Kinney in Venice. But first - check out the bizarro-ness that is the Spokane Airport below. There are wooden rocking chairs spread throughout the entire facility - the baggage claim, the gate, you name it. I don’t really know what to say…

Just wanted to document Spokane Airport’s odd rocking chair situation

A photo posted by Dani Nemzer (@dpnemzer) on

Anyways! I made Dad snap a quick photo of me and my new camera, looking blog and brunch ready!

tk22 Abbott Kinney Blvd is one of the hippest streets in LA right now, and the crowd at The Tasting Kitchen definitely reflected that. It was trendy, and it was a definitely see-and-be-scene situation. I love it. The restaurant itself is absolutely beautiful. It’s modern but somehow warm and inviting at the same time - lots of exposed brick, old-school china, with interesting rustic decor and chandeliers spread throughout.

tk tk2 tk48 They sat us upstairs (we definitely were put next to a bachelorette party). Check out the cute bookcase behind us - filled with old school recipe books! I found myself flipping through an original version of the Joy of Cooking. tk4 photo (5) The menu for brunch is breakfast-heavy (i.e. few lunch options). Somehow this sticky bun arrived at our table, and I made everyone stop for “only five seconds I swear!!” to let me take a picture. As you all know, I’ve removed such items from my diet currently, but I wholeheartedly enjoyed living vicariously through everyone else attacking this. I think this picture sums it up pretty well.
tk5 Every thing on the menu is impeccable, down to the smallest details and where they get their ingredients. I ordered sausage and eggs, and then nibbled around from other people’s plates including smoked salmon, bacon (which I normally don’t like but REALLY liked today) and some specialty lettuce. I thought the sausage was a bit too fatty for my taste. I have to say though - the eggs were divine. There is something that just doesn’t compare to farm fresh, pasture raised eggs. I definitely learned that from Nate’s parents and now I can always tell the difference! If you’re looking for a few places to go organic and local in your life - find a good egg (farmer? breeder? hatcher? lol) and it’ll be worth the price. tk46 My grandfather was more adventurous than me, and he ordered the short rib hash. I sampled, and gave it the thumbs up for sure. My grandfather has the most insane memory - he always has - and I love hearing stories about his childhood living in Germany. I learned all about what their meals looked like each day - turns out well-to-do Germans (back in the 1930’s) ate pretty much five meals a day. There was small breakfast, late breakfast, lunch, coffee and cake snacktime, and then supper. There was a lot of veal, a lot of wurst (sausage), and baked goods like croissants and sweet buns. tk999 My beautiful aunt Mary ordered the breakfast panini which looked ridiculously good. And after my early morning flight I was drinking lots of coffee, which tasted even better in these adorable china cups!

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We lounged around for a long time, and watched the trendy people next to us order the most insane chicken and waffles and sky-high burgers topped with fried eggs. After brunch it somehow was almost 4pm! We walked around Abbott Kinney for a bit - so many cute shops and cafes to explore. There were a ton of extremely well-dressed people out. But then it started to RAIN! I then spent the rest of the afternoon and evening indoors at home, and took it easy after a long week and a day of traveling and eating.

Huevos Rancheros with Sprouted Grain Tortillas

These simple huevos rancheros are made with only four fresh ingredients! Huevos Rancheros with Sprouted Grain Tortillas | danicaliforniacooks.com
There is something about huevos rancheros that will always have a special place in my heart. Maybe it was the Sundays at The Firehouse where we used to run into The Rock (remember him?!) and I would always order these. Or maybe its because my dad and I always choose the huevos rancheros and it became our little tradition. Maybe it was this one brunch me and my friends had in DC at the Commissary over President’s Day Weekend when there were like 10 of us and we were all in such good spirits. I think I always associated it with dining out, but what I didn’t realize is that this wonderful breakfast dish is really easy to recreate at home, and even more enjoyable when you add a healthy twist.

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Anyone else as big as a fan as I am of Ezekial products? Love their sprouted grain bread, tortillas, english muffins, you name it. Growing up, my mom always made our PB&Js on sprouted grain bread, so I grew to love the taste (even though no one at school would trade lunches with me…womp womp). Fannetastic Food recently posted an awesome blog article on nutrition of sprouted grains, which was really interesting to read about just beyond flavor. They are often easier to digest than your normal grain, and offer different health benefits. Kind of like when you eat raw spinach vs cooked spinach - different compounds within the foods are activated and your body absorbs them in different ways! Nutrition science fascinates me.

Huevos Rancheros with Sprouted Grain Tortillas | danicaliforniacooks.com

So I decided to try making homemade huevos rancheros using sprouted grain taco tortillas. They are so easy!! Simply cook a can of black beans with some salsa while you heat up your tortilla. You can use an oven or a microwave to warm it up. Then layer the beans/salsa mixture on the tortilla and an over-easy fried egg on top. Feel free to add more hot sauce, cilantro, cheese, or even avocado! I love when a fancy-looking recipe couldn’t be simpler to throw together.

Huevos Rancheros with Sprouted Grain Tortillas | danicaliforniacooks.com I made these for myself and my dad and we enjoyed the nostalgic flavors, but also appreciated that one serving each was still a light, healthy and protein-packed breakfast. I love that you get so much vegetarian protein from the sprouted grains, the egg and the beans. It’s a really good start to the day! And the ingredients are often stuff that you have on-hand already in your kitchen, because ain’t nobody got time to go grocery shopping for specific breakfast ingredients. If you’d like to make these gluten-free, swap out the sprouted grain tortilla for corn tortillas. If you are trying to cut carbs, you can put the beans/salsa and egg on top of a bed of spinach for almost a “huevos rancheros florentine”. Huevos Rancheros with Sprouted Grain Tortillas | danicaliforniacooks.com Enjoy, and happy breakfasting!

Simple Huevos Rancheros with Sprouted Grain Tortillas
 
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Homemade healthy huevos rancheros couldn't be easier with four ingredients!
Author:
Serves: 1 serving
Ingredients
  • 1 sprouted grain taco-sized tortilla (I used Ezekial brand)
  • 1 egg, over-easy
  • ½ cup canned, drained and rinsed black beans
  • ¼ cup pre-made salsa
  • Cilantro (optional)
  • Hot sauce (optional)
  • Avocado (optional)
Instructions
  1. Warm up your tortilla to your level of desired crispiness in the microwave, toaster oven or regular oven
  2. In a small skillet, cook your black beans with the salsa mixed in
  3. In a separate skillet, fry your egg over-easy
  4. Place your tortilla on a plate, and then top it with the black beans and salsa mixture
  5. Place your egg on top, any additional toppings, and enjoy immediately!
Notes
Swap a corn tortilla for the sprouted grain tortilla to create a gluten free breakfast!

Huevos Rancheros with Sprouted Grain Tortillas | danicaliforniacooks.com

Weekend eats and my grandfather’s 92nd birthday brunch

This weekend was really relaxed, which is necessary in preparation for the next months. I have a TON of travel coming up, and will be on anywhere from 1-5 flights every week from now through the beginning of January. Blog world - does anyone have any recommendations (restaurants, activities, etc) for Phnom Penh, Shanghai or Hong Kong? Please, please shoot me an e-mail! Nate and I will be celebrating Thanksgiving in Cambodia, and then be traveling to China with my family over the holidays. Okay back to the weekend - I did lots of cooking, blogging, running, saw Nightcrawler (!!) and most importantly, celebrated my grandfather’s 92nd birthday. Thursday travels included these two out-of the-ordinary in-flight experiences…

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Well hello there you middle seat surprise!!!!!

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Check out the alien with the face mask next to me..

Friday eats included this insane tuna melt from Mendocino Farms in Downtown LA. I can’t believe I’ve never been to the LA institution before! Dinner was sushi on Sawtelle Ave at Hide with my parents.

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Saturday I met my friend Adam on the newly bougie-fied Rose Ave in Venice for brunch at Flake. More tuna..this time in salad form. We also went next door to Moon Juice, which has a cultish following here in LA. Sampled a hibiscus lemonade (amazing) and then a Raw Vegan Carrot Cake with Cashew Probiotic “Cream Cheese”. I was really excited about this because I LOVE carrot cake and enjoy most raw desserts, but it was actually really disgusting. Adam could barely bring the fork up to his mouth. I would recommend Moon Juice…for the juice. We walked around Venice boardwalk after to admire the drum circles.

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Avoiding these next time.

Sunday was brunch at Joe’s Restaurant on Abbot Kinney for my grandfather’s 92nd 29th birthday! He is the MOST remarkable man and has been a truly wonderful grandfather to me. I am lucky that I grew up right around both sets of grandparents, and most of my family as well. Always a great time to get everyone together. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

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All the ladies!

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Publicly shaming my mother for picking around the crusts…

We enjoyed a lot of different brunch dishes. Here my uncle so artfully displays his salmon bowl with kimchi and a fried egg. Potential future blogger right here!

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My mom had the smoked trout eggs benedict (hollandaise on the side - now you see where I learn these tricks!)

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA I steered away from tuna (for once) and dug into the Huevos Rancheros.

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Afterwards, we did a slow walk down Abbot Kinney to admire the $6,000 purses.

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Camera never too far

And I’ll leave you with this great shot of my parents. Sally the dog is infamously un-photogenic.

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Single-Serving Baked Chia Banana Oatmeal

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Also known as the day I made #breakfastnipples for brunch. You should really follow me on Instagram to enjoy my fourteen-year-old boy humor on any given Saturday morning. I decided this food styling was certainly NSFW so don’t worry, you won’t see these #breakfastnipples again. Can’t make any promises about that hashtag though. Anyways….

10371354_10152864011667277_8549555727535296371_n Are any of you readers out there breakfast people like me? I often go to sleep excited about what I’m going to have for breakfast in the morning, and sometimes it’s even the thought of some PB and toast that will get me out of bed. The reason why brunch is so wonderful on the weekend is because it involves more time-intensive cooking than you’re willing to do at 7am on a weekday. Ain’t nobody got time for a wafflemaker on Tuesday. However, you definitely have time to zap a frozen homemade waffle, leftover from a large batch you made over the weekend. Meal prepping on Sundays is a fantastic way to make sure you have healthy things on hand throughout the week for breakfasts. So let me introduce to you your new favorite POWERHOUSE breakfast - Single Serving Baked Chia Banana Oatmeal. Each single serving is only 110 calories with 5g of protein, 3g of fiber, and only 3g of sugar. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

The greatest thing (besides the stellar nutritional profile and cuteness factor) about these single-serving oatmeals are their versatility. For those who are running out the door in the morning, I highly recommend spreading on a thick layer of almond butter on one of these babies and stuffing them in your mouth as you try and open your car trunk. Or put two of them and some blueberries in tupperware, zap in the microwave at work at eat them sitting at your desk - aren’t you civilized! Or eat one plain for a snack with a mug of tea at 3pm. Or make a double batch and freeze for a rainy day. Or bring them to your next brunch potluck - you know, because those happen all the time. I’m looking forward to heating up one of these in the microwave and topping with some PB and extra banana tomorrow morning!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA These are so simple to make, and consist of your typical oatmeal ingredients. Mix your oats, chia seeds, almond milk, baking powder, egg whites with a little cinnamon and vanilla extract. Mash up half a banana into the mixing bowl with the rest of the ingredients. Pour batter into a cupcake baking tin (almost to the top - these guys won’t rise all that much!) and bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees. Voila! They are yours to enjoy throughout the week. And everything is cuter in “cupcake” form - with a little PB and chia sprinkles - right?

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Hope these inspire you to do some of your own Sunday prep to make sure you have healthy breakfasts to look forward to every morning. Need more food prep inspiration? Lindsey at The Lean Green Bean has awesome and simple ideasfor food prep throughout the week.

Single-Serving Baked Chia Banana Oatmeal
 
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This nutritional powerhouse breakfast treats are perfectly pre-proportioned for grab-and-go throughout the week.
Author:
Serves: 8 servings
Ingredients
  • 2 cups rolled oats
  • 1 cup almond milk
  • ½ cup egg whites
  • ½ medium banana, mashed
  • 1 tbsp chia seeds
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1½ tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
  2. Mix ingredients in a medium mixing bowl
  3. Portion out into a cupcake baking tin, pouring almost to the top of each cupcake mold. This recipe should make 8 servings in a normal cupcake baking tin
  4. Bake for 25 minutes
  5. Remove from oven, cool, and put into a tupperware in the fridge to have on-hand throughout the week!
Nutrition Information
Serving size: 1 baked oatmeal cup Calories: 110 Fat: 2.5g Carbohydrates: 18g Sugar: 3g Fiber: 3g Protein: 5g