Green Bean Frittata or: How I learned to ditch the binge and love the bomb

Green Bean Frittata or: How I learned to ditch the binge and love the bomb

I saw a headline the other day that said, “Study shows binge watching may be linked to depression and loneliness” No shit. I don’t need a study to know that I didn’t hide in a dark room and watch all twelve seasons of Murder She Wrote because I was happy. I mainline the opiate of the masses so that I don’t have to deal with me and my fears and my sad. And sometimes I’ve got the hollow gaze and aching chest to prove it. I watch another episode to delay feeling or trying.

I know I’m lucky in so many ways and so I’m loathe to let anyone see the self-pity bits because I hear my Dad’s voice in my head complaining about his sad life, a life I see filled with more privilege and bailouts and opportunity than most of the world, and I don’t want to look in that gift horse’s mouth. Or be sad shamed in the comments.

But sometimes, like for the next ten minutes or so, I think it might be okay to let myself be sad and scared and grateful all at once because I’m sick of Netflix. I miss drawing and waking up in the middle of the night with the nugget of a story. I miss me. I’m tired of doing things half-assed. But I’m out of shape both literally and literarily. Short walks and recipes are the extent of the workout.

I believed that food blogs were meant to be chrome dazzled beacons of inspiration—glittering towers of sugar kissed desserts and perfectly posed dinners far above the mean streets of boxed macaroni and cheese and ice cream eaten straight from the pint. There are no tears here in organic veggie land where all the abs are flat and the soufflés never fall. And so in some half-assed way this site has lived up to its name- there are recipes and the rest is fiction. Not the fiction I imagined, no blithe bon mots of imagination but the fiction of omission. You know, like facebook updates. The status is not the whole story.

I want you to like me. Most days I feel like every blog post is a first date—so I shower and wash my hair, do the nails, avoid talking about my ex or my dead cat, order the salad when I really want spaghetti, politely decline another glass of wine. Today is not most days, today is the day we run into each other on the street and I’m wearing laundry clothes, the only makeup I’ve got on is that unnoticed smudge of yesterday’s mascara, and I’m pretty sure I forgot to brush my teeth. So look away if you must, pretend that you really have been checking something terribly important on your phone and managed to just miss my half embarrassed wave. It’s okay. I understand. Awkward moment avoided.

But wait you are still there. I can’t tell if you’re smiling because I’m too busy mouth breathing into my cupped palm to see if I did in fact brush my teeth after all. Yes, whew, and you seem happy to see me but a bit impatient to hear about the frittata I had for breakfast.

Fine, cause you can’t make a frittata without breaking a few eggs.

Green Bean Frittata

30 minutes from prep to plate

Six inch oven safe pan (I used a well seasoned cast iron)

I’ve taken to cooking my taters in a dry pan for a few minutes before adding the oil. This way they are always crisp on the outside and perfectly tender on the inside.

Add the goat cheese after cooking for a cool and creamy complement.

Ingredients

• 3.5 ounces (a little more than half a cup) waxy potatoes cut into ½ inch pieces
• a glug of olive or canola oil
• 2 ounces red onion (about a quarter cup) finely chopped
• Clove of garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup green beans
• 1 Tbsp. Fresh Rosemary, Minced
• 2 eggs
• 1 ounce yogurt
• ½ tsp. tomato paste
• salt and pepper to taste
• 4 tsps. goat cheese
• 1 Tbsp. Fresh Parsley, Minced

Directions

1. Pre-heat your pan over medium heat. Add the potatoes and cook for about four minutes until most of the surface moisture is off the potatoes. There will probably be a bit of starch sticking to the pan but that will scrape up when you add the glug of oil.
2. Add the oil and coat the potatoes. Salt and pepper to taste and cook until the potatoes are golden brown and crispy, another ten minutes or so.
3. Whisk together the eggs, yogurt, and tomato paste.
4. Add the onion, garlic, and green beans. Lower the heat to just above low and cook until for another few minutes.
5. Spread all these filling evenly in the pan and add the egg mixture. Turn off the heat and cover the pan.
6. Allow to cook in the pan for three or four minutes and then finish under the broiler. The frittata should be mostly cooked through so this only takes a minute or two- cook until the top is just set.
7. Remove from pan and divide if you’re sharing. Spread the goat cheese on the top and garnish with the parsley.

Green Bean Frittata

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 20 mins

Total Time 30 mins

Ingredients

  

• 3.5 ounces a little more than half a cup waxy potatoes cut into ½ inch pieces
• a glug of olive or canola oil
• 2 ounces red onion about a quarter cup finely chopped
• Clove of garlic minced
• 1/4 cup green beans
• 1 Tbsp. Fresh Rosemary Minced
• 2 eggs
• 1 ounce yogurt
• ½ tsp. tomato paste
• salt and pepper to taste
• 4 tsps. goat cheese
• 1 Tbsp. Fresh Parsley Minced

Instructions

 

• Pre-heat your pan over medium heat. Add the potatoes and cook for about four minutes until most of the surface moisture is off the potatoes. There will probably be a bit of starch sticking to the pan but that will scrape up when you add the glug of oil.
• Add the oil and coat the potatoes. Salt and pepper to taste and cook until the potatoes are golden brown and crispy, another ten minutes or so.
• Whisk together the eggs, yogurt, and tomato paste.
• Add the onion, garlic, and green beans. Lower the heat to just above low and cook until for another few minutes.
• Spread all these filling evenly in the pan and add the egg mixture. Turn off the heat and cover the pan.
• Allow to cook in the pan for three or four minutes and then finish under the broiler. The frittata should be mostly cooked through so this only takes a minute or two- cook until the top is just set.
• Remove from pan and divide if you’re sharing. Spread the goat cheese on the top and garnish with the parsley.

Tried this recipe?Mention @recipefiction or tag #recipefiction!