1. It looks like an omelet so I always think... hell, I could just make an omelet.
2. I don't like eggs. I mean, I'm fine with them in stir fries or cracked into pancake batter but as far as scrambling them or sunnyside-uping them, the taste leaves me sick to my stomach. This is mostly the result of my childhood dislike for the thought of eating pureed fetus chick, but compounded by the time my mom fed me undercooked overeasy ones and I got sick off of them. I do, admittedly, still eat them deviled, but come now, who doesn't?
3. Other food options inevitably look tastier and more daring, especially given my dislike of eggs anyway.
The second reason was remedied a few years or so ago when Art and I were at a Bob Evans and I wasn't that hungry and so, ordered the litest meal on the menu, which included a small order of fake eggs. You know the ones: they come in a carton, are essentially egg whites with yellow coloration for more of an "egg" feeling? So I sampled the fake eggs and loved them. They had all the good qualities of egg but without the heavy egg taste, which happens to be the aspect that upsets my tummy. They were just fake enough to fake my body into believing they were a new food group, and we've been fast friends ever since.
As for the other two reasons, well... I was in the mood for something new, but that would "go" with what the rest of the family was having: tacos with the meat, cheese, refried beans, onion, tomato, lettuce, and rice for Art and taco meat with cheese in a bowl for Garet (babysteps). Immediately, I remembered that frittata recipe. Frittata strikes me as Mexican sounding. I wonder if it is...
Anyway, the recipe was for onion and pepper frittata or some such thing, but as with all veggie recipes, I just use the premise of the recipe and add what I want and subtract what doesn't interest me. What I came up with, I'll call the Fajita Frittata. And it goes a little something like this:
Fajita Frittata
3 rings red bell pepper, quartered
2 slices tomato, quartered
a handful of fresh mushrooms (I used presliced baby bella)
1/2 c. fake egg
3 T shredded mexican cheese mix
1 T grated Parmesan cheese
enough olive oil for frying
salt and pepper
fajita powder (or other taco seasoning)
1. Heat about 1 T olive oil in a small skillet on med-high heat until it hisses when water is sprinkled on it. Add veggies and fry until edges are slightly blackened, flipping often.
2. Transfer veggies to a small bowl. Add fake egg and cheese and mix well. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and about 1t fajita powder. Mix again.
3. Put another 3/4 T of olive oil in the skillet. Coat evenly and put on low. Add egg mixture to skillet and shake to coat evenly. Cook about three minutes until top is set, rustling the edges often to move liquid egg to the bottom. This last bit didn't work so well for me so I just ended up flipping the thing and leaving it on for about a minute longer before flipping it back. It did the trick.
The siesta unfolded in my apartment tonight with the boys eating their various taco concoctions and me with my plate of seasoned frittata. Cooking this egg-pie thing (as Art called it) was quite enjoyable. It doesn't rip like an omelet, a common occurrence in my omelet making that usually results in scrambled eggs for breakfast. With the cheese in the "batter," the whole thing is more solid and fluffy, but with the bits of veggie peppering the top for an array of color. In addition, the fajita seasoning added an extra kick to the non-eggy flavor of the fake egg that complimented it nicely. Garet said it looked like pizza, but it wasn't enough to tempt him to give it a taste. Maybe next time...
The siesta will continue after we put Garet to bed. Art has been offered two classes to teach online for the fall and we're opening a bottle of margarita in celebration.
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