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Dani Spies is a Certified Health and Nutrition Counselor, Fitness Trainer and Mom who is passionate about finding simple ways to make real, whole, nutrtious foods a part of an everyday kitchen. More about Dani »

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Butternut Squash and Quinoa Frittata

Butternut Squash and Quinoa Frittata

Mmmmm, mmmm, mmmm am I loving Quinoa!! I made a big bucket of it over the weekend and have been throwing it in to just about everything all week long. 

When I saw this recipe over at Anticiplate,  I just knew I was gonna have to give it a go.   

You see, before seeing this post I would have never thought to add butternut squash to eggs.... which is exactly why I love being inspired my my fellow bloggers... they're always showing me something new!

Since the "Food Focus" this month is Quinoa, I figured I would add some quinoa into this dish as well, so it would be an "all-in-one meal". You have your protein, carbs, and fat... it's like eggs and toast but all it one pan...yum!

I used half eggs and half egg whites, this is an easy way to cut back on the fat a little without losing any of the flavor.

Also, another good tip to keep in mind when trying to cut some "calorie corners" is to use BIG flavors that you only need a little bit of. So for example, the blue cheese crumbles; adding just a quarter cup of Blue cheese crumbles to this dish is enough to give the entire dish the perfect punch of salty, creamy, delicious flavor!

I had this meal for dinner and served it with an arugula salad tossed in lemon and olive oil (it seriously couldn't be any easier or any more delicious!), but you could easily enjoy this for any meal of the day.

It also makes a great leftover, remember... if you're gonna cook, you may as well cook once and eat twice!

I'd love to hear some of your favorite ingredients to throw into a Frittata... I'm hoping I'll hear some more that I would of never thought of :)!

Butternut Squash and Quinoa Frittata

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
3 cups of cubed butternut squash
1 tsp fresh chopped rosemary
A pinch of nutmeg
A splash of water
1 cup of cooked quinoa
3 eggs
4 egg whites
½ cup of skim milk
¼ cup of blue cheese crumbles
Salt and pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 400.

Heat olive oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat.  Add in onions and allow to cook for about eight minutes or so… you want them to be translucent and on they’re way to sweet.

In the meantime combine eggs, egg whites, milk, salt and pepper in a medium bowl.  

Once the onions are ready, stir in squash, rosemary, and nutmeg.  Add a splash of water and pop a lid on for about ten minutes or until just tender.  Remove lid and stir in quinoa.

Once everything is well combined, turn the heat off and pour in egg mixture.  Top with crumbled blue cheese and pop everything in the oven for about 20 minutes.

Serves 4. 

Nutritional Analysis

Calories: 287; Fat: 12.3g; Saturated Fat: 4 g; Carbs: 30 g; Fiber: 4g; Protein: 16 g

Comments

Leticia :

I still haven't tried quinoa...but after all these great posts...I think I may be inspired. BTW, your photos look GREAT.

That looks fabulous! I love Quinoa!

Krista :

I made my first batch of Quinoa yesterday and it is delicious! Threw it in with a regular salad - it was great and way more filling. I don't have any ingredient suggestions because I've never made a frittata before - but I'm going to now!

I feel so honored to have you try one of my recipes:) I would never have thought to put quinoa in it. You are so clever!

Dianne - Me too!

Krista - Can't wait to hear about your frittata!

Anticiplate - Thanks!!! This was d'lishes!

Thanks for all the wonderful Quinoa recipes. I have just recently gotten into eating it and I love it. I am making this for dinner tonight.

Grtechen - You're welcome!! I hope you like this one!!

Blue cheese and squash fritatta sounds really good. I also really like the idea of using quinoa in a fritatta. I will have to try it.

Nicole :

I tried this with sweet potato instead of buttnernut squash because it was all I had lying around, and it was amazing! I highly suggest trying it.

Nicole - I know! I have actually made this with sweet potato as well when I didn't have any squash around and it works really well! I'm happy you liked it...thanks for letting me know:).

barbara :

I absolutely loved this! I made enough to pack for my lunch this week, as I am back to work. I really want 2010 to be a healthy year and now I am off to a good start!!! Thank you! barbarb

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