Herby Frittata

The best way to enjoy this frittata is to have some sweet potatoes on hand already baked in their skins in the fridge as part of your weekly prep. That way you can put this together in minutes. I have used orange and purple varieties to increase the phytochemicals – aka plant power. I also have a little herb garden outside my kitchen door so I’ve always got a range of herbs on hand to liven up meals. You can easily grow herbs in a window box, or on a patio in pots if you don’t have a garden. Herbs add so much flavour, and are so nutrient dense, and therapeutic. This frittata is packed with anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant goodness, and the shiitake mushrooms are great for your immune system too.  I have used a little nitrate free bacon here, but you can easily make it without and it will be just as good. I would suggest keeping some kitchen gloves to hand to chop turmeric with, otherwise you’ll have very yellow fingers….

Serves 3

Ingredients

6 large organic, free range eggs

2 big handfuls of fresh herbs, chopped – flat leaf parsley and chervil works really well (parsley and mint would work well too)

3 slices nitrate free unsmoked bacon, diced

Extra virgin olive oil

125g shiitake mushrooms, sliced

2 small pieces of fresh turmeric, peeled and very thinly sliced

1-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 medium sweet potatoes – one purple, one orange, prefaced, skin on

3 spring onions, finely sliced

Salt and black pepper to taste

To serve: a green salad, a forkful of live sauerkraut and a dollop of home-made mayo

Method

Preheat the grill on medium/high.

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, season with salt and pepper, and stir in the chopped herbs. Leave to one side.

In a cast iron pan (around 26cm), on a medium heat, fry the bacon pieces (I cut mine up with scissors) until crisping up nicely; add a little extra virgin olive oil and then the shiitake, and fry them all together until the mushrooms are browning too.

Add the turmeric and garlic and fry for another minute or so before adding the sweet potatoes.

Once these start to crisp a little at the edges, add the spring onion, fry for another minute or so. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

Make sure all the ingredients in the pan are dispersed equally, then pour in the eggs and tilt the pan so that there is even coverage; you can push it all under the eggs if you like.

Cook for a couple of minutes, or until the top is nearly set, then set it under the grill (you can also chuck it into the roasting oven of an Aga like I did if you have one – you don’t get the grilled top, but it’s nice and easy with no need to preheat anything). This takes around a minute too.

Slide it out onto a plate and cut into wedges, and serve with a green salad, sauerkraut and herby, lemon mayo (chervil is good). This is a great post on making mayo without refined oils – https://nomnompaleo.com/post/39474749548/whole30-day-2-paleo-mayonnaise. There’s also a link to the stick blender method, which I find foolproof.