Frightful Frittata

We’ve been eating a lot of beets this winter. Well, maybe not a lot, but more than normal, as local beets are readily available. Baking is our preferred method of preparation. We trim the twiggy bits at the top, whack off the rat-tail root, wash, wrap in foil and bake until tender. Once they’re baked they’re much easier to peel, although we still end up looking like we’ve had a bloody massacre in the kitchen when we’re done.

A few weeks ago I was looking for a quick lunch. Inspired by an article about frittatas over at “The Goods Are Odd” I went poking around my fridge. There were no greens to work with, but I did have eggs, cheese, green onions and some leftover baked beets. Hmmmm. I had made beet and feta tart before, so I figured the combo would work as a frittata.

Usually when I make a tart I put cooked veggies on a crust then pour my egg and cheese mixture on top. Sometimes the veggies will colour the eggs slightly where they touch. Knowing this didn’t prepare me for what I was going to get when I assembled my frittata. I combined beaten eggs with grated cheese then dumped in my sliced beets and chopped onion. I stirred everything together and got this:



The photo doesn’t do it justice. It looked even worse in person. It wasn’t quite Barbie pink, and it wasn’t quite Pepto pink. It was weirdly yellow from the egg yolks. I had to laugh, and cook it anyway. There just wasn’t time to consider anything else.

It came out of the broiler looking much improved, if still a bit bright. I probably could have let it brown a bit more, but was afraid of burning it. I tend to have trouble finding that moment between not quite done and charred. Hubbie can attest to that. There has been more than one occasion where I’ve set off the smoke detector with the broiler.


In spite of its rather unusual appearance, it was good, and it allowed me to use leftovers that might otherwise have gone to waste. That pleases me. I like that kind of economy, particularly when it is unplanned. It feels good when everything comes together like that. All in all, I’d recommend beet frittata, if only for the laugh.