Mini Veggie Frittatas

At the beginning of this year I made a commitment to myself to start taking better care of me: Eating better, exercising more, and prioritizing sleep and family time. After the rollercoaster of pregnancy and those first few months with a newborn, to say that I was out of shape would be an understatement. I leaned on that "I have a newborn, I'm just trying to survive" excuse for a long time, but once the new year rolled around and I had a baby that was sleeping through the night and was pretty much done nursing, yet still couldn't fit into real pants that rationale seemed less and less acceptable... especially now that my "newborn baby" is almost a one-year old toddler. Things have been going well, but I still have a ways to go. My methodology has been all about small changes instead of big sweeping ones that are hard to stick with: Hopping on the treadmill desk at work, incorporating some short cardio or strength sessions at home in the evenings (even 20 minutes is better than nothing), cutting down my sugar intake, and starting every day (including the weekdays) with a protein and nutrient-packed breakfast. And that's where these mini frittatas come in!

Preparing eggs for breakfast can be messy and time consuming, so it isn't the ideal weekday breakfast option. However, these mini frittatas can be prepared over the weekend so that you have them at the ready to simply heat up (or enjoy cold) and enjoy before you get back to your busy day. A muffin tin is the perfect way to portion them out too, so there's no guessing involved. On a really hungry morning, I will have two. On other mornings, I'll have one frittata and a banana (with coffee, obviously) and I'm good for the next few hours. The key is to fill these frittatas up with flavorful and good-for-you ingredients that will make them satisfying, but also tasty. Because nothing gets old faster than the same bland breakfast every single day.

These frittatas start with a pretty simple egg custard base: Lots of scrambled eggs, milk, and for flavor a little mustard, hot sauce, salt, pepper, and fresh rosemary. To that, I added a sweet and savory combination of diced sweet potatoes, onions, red bell peppers, garlic, and goat cheese. It's a great flavor combination and the generous vegetable chunks add some nice texture to the eggs too. And while I am partial to this set of ingredients, you can also have fun with whatever you have on hand too. I made a second batch of these mini frittatas with chopped sun dried tomatoes, diced leftover asparagus, Pecorino Romano, and the pureed spinach that I made for my daughter (that she refused to eat). My theory is that if you make these with ingredients you enjoy, you'll be much more likely to actually eat them instead of grabbing a donut on your way to the office!


Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups sweet potato, cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 1 1/2 Tbs. olive oil, divided 
• 1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup red bell pepper, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• Cooking spray
• 10 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tsp. prepared mustard
• A few dashes of hot sauce (optional)
• 1/2 Tbs. fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup crumbled goat cheese
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

In a medium bowl, combine sweet potatoes, 1 Tbs. oil, salt, and pepper and toss to incorporate. Spread mixture evenly on a large rimmed baking sheet. Roast for 15 minutes and remove from oven for next step.

Meanwhile, toss the red pepper, onion, garlic, salt, pepper(to taste), and remaining 1/2 Tbs. of oil in the bowl. Add to the par-roasted sweet potato mixture and toss to incorporate the peppers and onions into he sweet potatoes. Roast for another 15 minutes, or until sweet potatoes are fork tender. 

Reduce oven heat to 350 degrees F. Spray a muffin tin evenly with cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, mustard, hot sauce, salt, pepper (to taste) well until frothy. Fold in the rosemary.

Carefully spoon the sweet potato and pepper mixture into the bottom of each muffin tin until they are about 1/3 to 1/2 full. Pour the egg mixture carefully over the top of each one until the egg mixture is just below the rim of the muffin cup. Sprinkle goat cheese over the top of each and bake for 25-28 minutes or until golden and the eggs are set.

Remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes. You may need to use a butter knife to gently loosen the eggs from the tin. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator and enjoy warm or cold for breakfast!

Make 12 mini frittatas.