So, “Brinner” is a thing at our house…usually at least one time weekly. Some people may call it breakfast for dinner, but, really, who has time to say all that? Let me give you a few reasons why we love brinner so much:
1. We love eggs. Our family can easily eat three dozen eggs every single week. (There are only 2 adults and 1 tiny human in our family, so I think that is kind of a lot.) Eggs are extremely nutrient dense, cheap (even if you buy the pricey ones that are all free range and organic and clucking happily as they lay…for protein, they are an economical option!), and easy to prepare on a busy weeknight. Sometimes I work until 5:30 or 6 (as do lots of people), and so eggs are just a great way to get dinner on the table fast without any stress or forethought.
2. Brinner can be high protein/high fat/low carb without being pricey. I’ve found some pretty decent eggs at my local market that run me about $1/dozen. So, our fascination with eggs doesn’t break the bank. Hooray! Plus, if you’ve read anything else on here, you know how much I love fat! Do NOT throw those egg yolks away and just eat the whites (ick…so bland…)! So, with brinner we get a nice low carb dinner that keeps us on par with our budget.
(On a side note, wanna know what my child’s first food was after fermented cod liver oil? Egg yolk from a 4 minute boiled egg mixed with a bit of frozen raw beef liver and himalayan pink salt. Yep. Not even joking. The best part? He loved it! Maybe I’m not the only one who’s crazy… So, to say that we like our eggs around here is putting it mildly. He’s almost two now and he puts down two scrambled eggs every single morning…usually in about 30 seconds.)
3. I just freakin’ love breakfast. I am not one of those people that can just blend a smoothie in the morning and be good ’til lunch. Nope. Breakfast is a meal for me, and I could eat breakfast foods for all three meals probably…and sometimes I do! On the contrary, the Hubs is not a breakfast person at all. He’s more of the, “I’m just eating this because I know I should” kind of guy. But, he does love his eggs, too, so he’s really quite happy with the brinner thing. In fact, he gets excited when he gets home and sees it/smells it…normally it involves bacon…so, I mean, how does that not make you happy?
So, with all that being said, our brinner does not center around pancakes or waffles (although I do enjoy some alternative pancakes here and there for actual breakfast). Our brinner is centered around the good ol’ egg in various ways, shapes, and forms.
Enter: The Frittata
So, one of my favorite quick and easy ways to make eggs is via frittata. If you’ve never had one, think about a quiche (which hopefully you have had because they are ridiculous…man, I do love breakfast) and then take the crust off (I know, I know), and you’ve got a frittata.
Now, recently I’ve enjoyed experimenting with grain-free crusts so that I can go back to enjoying quiches as well, but that doesn’t exactly fit the bill for fast weeknight cooking. Skip the crust, make a frittata, and you’ve got a delicious, nutrient dense brinner in no time.
A Few Notes Before We Head Right to the Recipe
If you haven’t caught on yet, we also love our bacon around here, and most of our meals involve meat, but, in the case of the frittata, since we’re getting lots of good fats and protein from the eggs, we skip the meat just in this recipe. I promise I’ve got more frittata recipes that include meat, too, and at some point I’ll get around to making those again and posting it. In the meantime, here is a meatless main dish for you.
You can totally make this dairy free! Sometimes I just use some (full fat!) coconut milk instead of the greek yogurt, and the recipe works quite well. You can skip the cheese on top, or, if you tolerate non-cow dairy, you can use some goat or sheep’s cheese instead. Delish.
Please, please, please be careful when you take the skillet out of the oven!! I have pulled it out, and then gone to turn it out onto a plate, forgetting that I just pulled it out of the oven, and burnt my hand more times than I can count. Then I got one of those handle cover thingies to put on the handle immediately after pulling it out, and, well, I think the nerves in my hands are finally repairing themselves. Ouch. Be careful, people!!
So, without further ado, let’s get to the recipe!
- 1 medium onion
- 2 T. olive or avocado oil
- 2 avocados, nice and ripe (soft)
- 1 15 oz. can black beans
- 10 eggs (the bigger the better)
- ½ c. plain greek yogurt or full fat coconut milk
- ½ t. real salt
- ¼ t. pepper
- ¼ t. cumin
- 1 c. pepper jack cheese (or goat's cheese or cheddar or whatever you like)
- Toppings: cilantro, salsa, and plain greek yogurt
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Finely chop the onion, dice the avocados, drain and rinse the black beans, and shred the cheese.
- Heat a large, ovenproof skillet over medium heat.
- Add the oil and swirl it around the pan to coat.
- Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent and soft.
- Meanwhile, crack the eggs into a large bowl, add the greek yogurt or coconut milk, salt, pepper, and cumin and whisk well to combine.
- Once the onions are soft and fragrant, throw the beans and diced avocados on top. Then pour the egg mixture on top of the beans and avocados. Do not stir!
- Place the skillet into the oven and bake for about twenty minutes. The eggs should not be jiggly when gently shaken. If they are, give it a few more minutes.
- Once the frittata is in its no-longer-jiggly state, pull it out of the oven, throw the shredded cheese on top, and place it back in the oven for about 2 minutes just to melt the cheese a bit.
- Carefully remove from the oven, run a silicon spatula around the edge to loosen it from the pan, and oh-so-carefully slide it out onto a plate.
- Serve with the cilantro, salsa, and additional greek yogurt.
Adapted from The All-New Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook.
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