Egg, Ham, & Spinach Hashbrown Casserole

I know I’ve mentioned I like egg dishes before. But really, they never get old! And there’s so many variations!

Quiches! Stratas! Frittatas!

Let us not forget, though, the mighty breakfast casserole!
So many things you can add, and all delicious.

I made mine a hashbrown casserole with onion, spinach, and ham added with the hashbrowns, cheese sprinkled over the top, and then beaten eggs and milk poured over everything and baked. Lovely.

Don’t think you can only serve this for breakfast/brunch. Like all those lovely egg dishes, I strongly believe they’re good for any meal. I served mine for dinner with a tossed salad. I say, go for it.

Egg, Ham, & Spinach Hashbrown Casserole

(serves 4)

• 3 large russet potatoes (or frozen hash browns)
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1 – 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 c. diced ham
• 1/2 bag (6 – 7 oz.) fresh spinach
• 1 c. shredded colby jack cheese (or the shredded cheese of your choice)
• 4 – 5 large eggs
• 1 c. milk or cream
• salt and pepper

1. Pre-heat oven to 360° F.
2. If using frozen hash browns, cook according to package instructions. If using fresh potatoes, peel, wash, and grate potatoes. Add olive oil to a large skillet over med-high heat. Place grated potatoes in an even layer in skillet. Cook until browned on one side, then flip and cook on the remaining side until golden brown. Season with salt and pepper. Place hashbrowns in a sprayed 3 quart, rectangle baking dish. Return skillet to heat.
3. Turn heat down to medium. Add onion and garlic, and saute for 3 minutes. Add spinach and ham, and continue cooking until spinach wilts. Remove from heat.
4. Sprinkle half the cheese on top of the hashbrowns. On top of that, spread the onion spinach mixture in an even layer, then sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top.
5. In a bowl, whisk the eggs and milk (or cream) together. Season with salt and pepper, then slowly pour the egg mixture over the casserole so that everything is evenly covered.
6. Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes, or until top is golden brown, and the egg is completely cooked. Let cool 5 – 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

 

Sausage, Sun-dried Tomato, and Spinach Quiche

If there’s one thing I love, it’s a good quiche.

They’re so versatile and easy, yet delicious. Good for breakfast, good for lunch, good for dinner. A good quiche is hard to beat.

This is similar to a frittata I made a few weeks ago, but with sun-dried tomatoes instead of roasted peppers, and in quiche form.

I usually make my own pie crusts, but I’ve been buying pre-made crusts lately. Whole Foods has some really good ground spelt and whole wheat pie crusts in their frozen foods section. I especially like the ground spelt ones.

Feel free to use your favorite pie crust recipe for this quiche or buy a pre-made crust. It’s up to you. Do whatever floats your boat. We’re flexible around here.

One thing. While you can make quiche using all milk, it’s really good if you use half milk and half cream. The cream gives it a bit of lusciousness and depth of flavor that you don’t quite get with just milk. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still great with just milk, but if you’re looking to impress, add some cream.

 

Sausage, Sun-dried Tomato, and Spinach Quiche

(makes 1 quiche)

• 1 pie crust
• 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 – 1/2 lb. Italian sausage (ground or links cut into slices; pork or turkey)
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1/4 c. sun-dried tomatoes, diced
• 2 c. fresh spinach
• 1 c. shredded cheese
• 4 – 5 large eggs
• 1 c. whole milk (or 1/2 c. milk and 1/2 c. heavy cream)
• salt and pepper

1. Pre-heat oven to 360° F.
2. Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add sausage and cook until almost completely browned.
3. Add onion and garlic, and continue cooking for 2 – 3 minutes. Add spinach and cook until spinach wilts. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat.
4. In a large bowl, whisk eggs, milk, and cream (if using) together. Add a dash of salt and pepper.
5. Place prepared pie crust on a baking sheet. In the crust layer half the cheese, the meat and vegetable mixture, and the rest of the cheese. Pour the egg mixture over everything.
6. Bake, uncovered, 45 minutes, or until top of quiche is golden brown and the egg filling doesn’t jiggle when gently shaken.

Roasted Pepper, Italian Sausage, and Spinach Frittata

Did everyone have a good Independence Day?

We had a fun, although quiet day here. In the morning, we visited the San Jacinto Memorial. I didn’t know what the monument would look like, and I was surprised to see just how big it was. It’s a huge column (it lacks the pointy, pyramid-like top of an obelisk), and stands at 567 feet tall. That’s slightly taller than the Washington Monument in D.C. That’s pretty big, right? Inside, there was a small museum with the history of the area, important figures in Texas history, and of course the battle of San Jacinto.

I forgot my camera (naturally), so here are some pics from my phone.
I couldn’t get the entire monument in the picture, but here’s (most) of it.

 

Hisa standing at the base of the monument.

After leaving there, we visited the nearby Battleship Texas, built in the early 1900s. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get on the boat as it was closed for repairs, but it was still really cool to see. It had huge turrets on it. I can only imagine how loud it must of been when those things were firing.

I wonder if they had good earplugs back in the early 1900s?

In the afternoon, we went to the movies to see The Avengers (finally!). I’d been wanting to see this movie since it came out, so I was happy to finally get to see it before it left theaters. I was surprised to see how packed the theater was though! The movie has been out for so long, I thought the theater would be nearly empty, but it was packed! I guess that’s why it’s still in theaters… Anyway, I thought it was a really good movie. I love the smart-A-ness of Iron Man, but then I have a special place in my heart for smart-A’s, hehe. I blame my parents. 🙂

In the evening, we had hot dogs, coleslaw, and chips for dinner, with homemade vanilla ice cream and a peach crisp for dessert. My family has a tradition of making homemade ice cream on the fourth of July. My mom would always make some every fourth of July, usually a different flavor each year. This was my first time to make homemade ice cream (thanks for the ice cream maker, Mom!), so I went with a simple vanilla ice cream, but oh, it was so good. Happily, we have quite a bit left over (yay~).

 

I love egg dishes. They’re so simple, good anytime of the day, and you can basically put whatever you want in them. They’re also cheap to make! Like strata and quiche, frittatas are a great, easy egg dish to make, and take less time to make than strata and quiche, as you just cook it on the stove for a little bit, then pop it under the broiler for a few minutes to finish cooking.

As it will be going in the oven under the broiler, you’ll be wanting to use an oven-proof skillet to make this. A cast iron skillet is great for this, but any oven-proof skillet will do.

For this frittata, I added roasted red peppers, Italian turkey sausage, and spinach. But I’m sure you didn’t know that, what with the title of this post and all. Oh, and cheese. Don’t forget the cheese! Never forget the cheese!

Goes well with tossed salad and homemade bread. 🙂

Roasted Pepper, Italian Sausage, and Spinach Frittata

(serves 6)

• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 3 Italian turkey sausage links, sliced (ground sausage is fine, as is pork sausage)
• 1/2 small onion, diced
• 2 – 3 roasted red peppers, diced
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 2 c. fresh spinach, chopped
• 6 eggs
• 1/2 c. milk, half and half, or cream
• salt and pepper
• 1 c. shredded cheese

1. Preheat broiler.
2. Add butter to a cast-iron skillet (or any oven-proof skillet) placed over med-high heat. Once melted, add the sausage, and cook until browned. Reduce heat to medium.
3. Add the onion, red pepper, and garlic, and cook until onion turns translucent, 3 -4 minutes. Add the spinach, and cook until it wilts. Spread the meat and vegetables evenly around the skillet.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, and a dash of salt and pepper. Pour evenly over the mixture in the skillet. Push the egg mixture around with a spatula or wooden spoon for about 30 seconds, then let it start to set.
5. Once the sides are set, but the center is still runny, sprinkle the cheese over the top. Place in oven, under the broiler until the egg mixture is set and the top is browned. Remove from oven, cut into slices, and serve.

Asparagus and Ham Strata

A new recipe! Yay!

Sorry it’s taken me so long to get around to posting one! But what with moving…and then moving again… I’ve barely had time to even think about cooking anything new or post about it.

This is a dish I made several weeks ago and didn’t get the chance to post about it before the moving frenzy began.

If you’ve never had a strata, it’s a layered casserole consisting of bread, eggs, and cheese, usually with the addition of some kind of meat and/or vegetable. It’s quite similar to a quiche or frittata, except that it doesn’t have a pie crust, like quiche, and instead it has torn up pieces of bread in it.

It’s a really easy, but delicious dish, and honestly, it’s good anytime of the day. Even those times in the middle of the night when  you wake up ravenous, and you raid the kitchen thinking know one will ever know….but they know….they so know.

Feel free to substitute any vegetable of your choice for the asparagus. Broccoli, zucchini, spinach, and summer squash would all be great alternatives.
You can also add any kind of meat you want instead of the ham, or leave it out altogether.

Asparagus and Ham Strata

(serves 6)

• 10 baguette slices (or 5 – 6 regular slices of bread), torn up
• 1 lb fresh asparagus, cut into 1 1/2 in. pieces
• 1 c. cubed ham
• 1 c. grated cheese
• 1 1/2 c. milk
• 6 large eggs
• 1/2 c. plain yogurt
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. dijon mustard
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• black pepper
• 1/2 c. heavy cream (optional)

1. Pre-heat oven to 325° F.
2. Bring a large pot of boiling water to a boil. Cook asparagus for 3 – 4 minutes, or until just tender. Drain and set aside.
3. Grease a 3 qt. rectangle casserole dish. Spread half the torn up bread pieces in the bottom. Top with ham, asparagus, and cheese. Top with the remaining bread pieces.
4. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, yogurt, mustard, onion powder, a dash of pepper (and salt if not using ham), and the cream. Pour evenly over the mixture in the casserole dish.
5. Bake, uncovered, for about 60 minutes, or until egg is completely cooked and the top is golden brown. Let set 10 minutes before serving.

Mmmm, yummeh in my tummeh~

Today’s Lunch

Today’s lunch: 3 mini crust-less quiche, smoked cheese cracker sandwiches, pretzels and goldfish crackers, a homemade granola bar, mini tomatoes, and fresh pineapple