Day 3: Spinach and Mushroom Frittata

This vegetarian friendly recipe is another pick from my recipe box that I have never tried. Ever since a not so pretty incident after eating a spinach pizza at Gino's East, I've struggled with spinach. I make a pretty good spinach dip which I eat on Hawaiian bread to help mask the spinach taste, but other than that I usually try to steer away from anything spinach. The smell of cooked spinach makes me a little nauseous too.

But I decided to take one for the team because Paul LOVES spinach, and I know it is good for Austin. In fact, Paul was very surprised by this choice of recipe since 3 of the ingredients I claim to loathe(Parmesan, Ricotta, Spinach). I used to hate Parmesan so much that I would lie to the waiter and say I was allergic so that they didn't just pick it off the top of my caesar salad. I make my mom cook half of her incredible lasagna without ricotta cheese and won't take a piece that shares a border with ricotta. But again the whole idea is to challenge myself this month so regardless of all the obstacles, I still chose to add this to the menu.

Spinach and Mushroom Fritatta

10 oz pkg. frozen chopped spinach(thawed and squeezed of all liquid)
4 eggs
1 cup part skim ricotta
3/4 freshly grated parmesean
3/4 chopped portobello mushrooms
1/2 cup finely chopped scallions(with some green)
1/4 teas. dried Italian seasoning
salt/pepper to taste

Step 1: Whisk together all ingredients until well mixed

Step 2: Spray 9 inch pie plate and fill with spinach mixture

Step 3: Bake for 30 minutes at 375 degrees( top should be golden brown)

Step 4: Cover with foil and let cool on top of stove for 5-10 minutes

Kitchen Play by Play: I was worried. It sure seemed like a lot of ingreidents, and I was leary as to whether it would really only take 20 minutes to prepare so I set the timer. Two minutes in Laura called. I was so excited to talk to her but assumed it would now take me longer to prepare the dish since I'd be distracted. It was a risk I was willing to take because we needed a gossip fest. So while we talked about our beautiful children, I chopped, measured and whisked away. Without even realizing it, I was putting the fritatta in the oven with 7 minutes left on the clock. Not too shabby. Only 13 miuntes of prep while on the phone!!! I also threw some McCain's Frozen Potato Baby Cakes in the oven to accompany the frittata. Paul eats them with sour cream; I eat them with applesauce.

Finished Product(Please excuse the half eaten fritatta. I forgot to take a picture before eating)
The Verdict:
Nicole- Spinach...ewww! Ricotta...gag. Parmesean...no thank you. Spinach, ricotta, and parmesean all wrapped up in a fritatta...HELL YEA!! This was through the roof fantastic!! Upon first bite, I actually told Paul it tasted like there was bacon it to which he gave me a weird look. But I really think the saltiness of the cheeses made it taste slightly baconesk(made up word). I really think I could have taken down half of the fritatta myself. I would serve it for breakfast, lunch or dinner. As a spinach dish I give it a 5. Overall, I give it a VERY strong 4.

Paul- gives it a 4. When I asked Austin if he liked it, Paul told Austin, "MMMM...daddy likes it" Paul did want me to note that he gives the frozen potato cakes a 5. Thank you McCains.

Austin- Was really tired and crabby today so he asked for a PB&J at 4:30 and proceeded to eat 1 1/2 sandwiches. Therefore, by dinner time he didn't really want to eat, but he did take a bite and said, "mmm...good."