Sunday, December 28, 2008

Christmas Pictures and Vegetable Strata Recipe







We had a wonderful holiday with family, and we are enjoying some down time together before school starts back. I hope your holidays were special, too.

I made a really tasty egg dish for lunch today, and I want to share the recipe. The original recipe came from weightwatchers.com, but I adapted it a bit.

Tomorrow, I am blogging about weight loss goals for 2009. If you have some pounds to shed, let me know and we can cheer one another along.

Vegetable Strata

8 Servings

7 slices whole wheat bread, toasted and cut into cubes
2 tsp olive (or your favorite) oil
1 medium red onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 slices Canadian bacon, diced
20 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry in a dish towel
10 oz frozen butternut squash, thawed
8 eggs
¾ cup skim milk
½ tsp each, salt and pepper
Your favorite shredded cheese to sprinkle on top

Preheat oven to 375.

Heat oil in skillet and sauté onion until it is soft, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and bacon, and cook until onions start to brown, 3-4 more minutes. Remove from skillet and set aside.

Place spinach, squash, eggs, milk, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Whisk to combine. Add onion mixture and whisk again. Pour in the bread. You may need a spoon to combine this time.

Pour the entire mixture into a 9 x 13 pan coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes.

Serve with fresh fruit.

*Notes: I could not find frozen squash. I bought a whole butternut squash in the produce section. I microwaved it for 10 minutes to soften, then cut it in half lengthwise. I scooped out the flesh of one half to use in the dish, then scooped the rest into a bowl and froze it for later.

Also, the original recipe called for 4 eggs and 6 egg whites. I could not justify tossing out 6 egg yolks. Using 8 eggs allows for one egg per serving, which is a great way to get in good nutrients.

**Everyone really liked this. I like spinach, but I didn’t know if anyone else would go for it. They didn’t even try to top it with sour cream or ranch dressing, like they do many other vegetable dishes. It was so yummy and filling. I served it with a small plate of pear slices and peeled Clementines. This would make a great dish for brunch on New Year’s Day or on the weekend.

Enjoy!

Bev

1 comment:

Tiffany said...

Great pictures! I love the one with your oldest daughter and the doll! She looks like she's having a great time. The recipe looks good too.