Green Eggs & Ham, Sam I Am

Viva Italiano!

A great way to start a Sunday is with this riff on an Ina Garten make ahead meal. When you are a caretaker, it's mission critical to have food on-hand for multiple meals. This breakfast and brunch baked Italian egg mini-Frittata hits the mark. You sauté chopped leeks for 3 minutes in olive oil and add to it chopped prosciutto and then fresh spinach. Remove it from the heat and top it with fresh basil.

Separately, you beat 8 eggs with half and half, salt and pepper. With tongs, add the mixture to a 12 muffin tin coated with olive oil or Pam. The recipe calls for grated Fontina, but I already had a shredded Italian cheese blend on-hand, so I substituted that. Transfer the egg mixture to a Pyrex pouring cup and pour over the vegetables. Top it off with grated Parmesan cheese.

You bake the Frittata at 375 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes in a muffin pan in the oven. I love baked meals because they are less caloric than fried and you can greet guests or take care of a parent or child while it's in the oven. I also try to manage meals so that I can maximize an ingredient to prevent food waste. In this case, I also used the prosciutto to wrap asparagus that I baked off earlier in the week. Post on that meal to come.

Health Benefits

Spinach is high in Vitamin C, a powerful antioxidant for immune support, Vitamin K1, Folic Acid, Calcium and Iron -- remember Popeye? Leeks are rich in flavonoids which have anti-inflammatory properties. Great for anyone with an overactive immune system to reduce inflammation. They are great for healthy cardiovascular support. Basil contains antioxidants such as lutein and beta-carotene.

Eggs are a great source of protein and healthy Omega-3 fats. I like to serve this with cantaloupe. This helps to keep it a low carb, healthy meal. If you want to make this as a vegetarian meal, you could always substitute the prosciutto with chopped Portobello mushrooms.

Freeze Frame

The greatest part of this is that if you are cooking for 2 or 3, you can have the leftovers the next day or freeze it. If you are having a brunch with friends, it looks fancy without a huge amount of time invested. This is definitely a Mimosa worthy dish.

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