Frittata with Braised Mustard Greens

Each Thursday, Emily Vikre (a.k.a fiveandspice) will be sharing a new way to love breakfast -- because breakfast isn't just the most important meal of the day. It's also the most awesome.

Today: Why frittata is the perfect food -- and how to make it.

The reasons to love frittata are many, almost innumerable. So, let me give you just the top four.

One: Frittata is really fun to say. Especially if you roll your R, really give some explosive heft to each syllable, and then elongate the last A. Try it! Frrrittataaaa. You’ll feel sort of like you’re at Hogwarts casting a spell. Probably to cause a chicken to appear and start laying eggs.

Two: Frittata can be eaten for any meal of the day. It is good for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It’s also good for second breakfast, elevenses, afternoon snack, or with a cold beer while you’re waiting for dinner to be ready.

Three: You can eat frittata warm, cold, or at room temperature and neither taste nor texture will suffer. If only everything were so easy going!

Four: Most of the best frittatas start, as this one did, with leftovers.

As such, to do this properly, you really should double the amount of greens you cook (I’ll let you do the math) and use the first half for dinner. Toss them with a bowlful of pasta and a handful of Parmesan or serve them as a bed for broiled fish with a squeeze of lemon. The spicy, nose tingling mustard greens become mellow and silky when given enough time over heat and can be used here, there, and everywhere. The second half of the greens, then, go into frittata. Just warm them up, pour over your whisked eggs, cook, broil, Frrrrittataaaaa!  

Frittata with Braised Mustard Greens

Serves 4 to 6

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
A pinch of red pepper flakes
1/2 pound mustard greens (or kale) stemmed and cut/torn into bite-sized pieces
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground pepper
10 large eggs

See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.

Photos by Emily Vikre