A while back my friend Amy posted this open-faced black bean omelet recipe and I’ll tell ya, it got me intrigued. I had never thought of cooking up beans in my eggs, though I have had them on the side when I’ve ordered something like Huevos Rancheros out at restaurants, but not actually in the egg dish itself. At least not that I can recall.

Last weekend, I found myself with a few too many zucchini – and to be honest, I think that might become a weekly occurrence since our spring CSA started back up. Will you look at this beauty? I have had a couple that size (and bigger!) in my pick-ups the last two weeks in a row.

Monster zucchinis I tell ya.

Back to the frittata. So with that black bean omelet always in the back of my mind and with those hugantic zucchinis hanging out in my fridge, this Garden Black Bean Frittata was born. It was the perfect Saturday morning breakfast (and even better reheated in the toaster oven the next day sandwiched between two slices of toast).

Garden Black Bean Frittata
Recipe created in Aggie’s Kitchen

4 eggs
1/2 zucchini, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
1/2 cup Bush’s Best Black Beans, rinsed
1/3 cup shredded cheddar or monterey jack cheese, divided
salt and pepper

Heat a lightly greased small (8′) nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add chopped zucchini and onion to pan and cook for 2-3 minutes until slightly softened. Whisk eggs and half of cheese together well then add to pan along with black beans to vegetable mixture. Let eggs sit in pan for a few minutes until bottom starts to set. At this time, take a spatula and work around edges while tilting pan to let extra egg mixture fill in space around pan. Cook for another few minutes and add remaining shredded cheese on top. Place under broiler for up to 5 minutes until cooked through and golden brown. Carefully remove pan from broiler using an oven mitt and serve warm.

Note: Store your leftover Bush’s Best Black Beans in an air tight container for up to 3 days. Sprinkle in salads, throw together some quick quesadillas or salsa or even make this tasty Chipotle Black Bean Pizza.

I am loving all the responses to the my “Motivation” giveaway. I absolutely love hearing from readers that I haven’t heard from before, and also it’s nice to know you’re not the only one who needs a little kick start every now and then. So I wanted to share a couple of more things that help me get and stay motivated.

1: MapMyRun app – I have had this app on my phone since I trained for my first half marathon two Decembers ago. Before I started training for my race, I was mostly a treadmill girl and it was easy for me to know what distance I was running. However, once I started running outside this app on my phone came in VERY handy! I use it all the time now…and not just for running obviously. You have the option to save your routes and share with people, but I just use it for distance purposes. It also gives you time and speed tracking. Have fun with it!

2: “Filler” workouts – my main way to exercise has been running for a while now, but I find that I almost always burn out or get bored with running some time or another. It sounds like a lot of you do too. I am trying to find new “filler” workouts to keep me from getting bored. I found this elliptical workout from Julie/PBFingers and am absolutely going to use it at the gym this week. It’s perfect for my in-between-run days and it’s short enough to squeeze in on a day I am thinking I want to take off instead. She’s also got some great treadmill and circuit workouts if you need a little motivation or change-up in that department.

3. Have you checked out my Fitness page? There you will be find a some training and getting started to run programs I have used or loosely used over the years.
The Get Moving and Get Healthy giveaway ends tomorrow at noon – enter here if you haven’t already!

When I was in college, I used to frequent a local bagel shop and order pretty much the same thing every time. A lightly toasted everything bagel with egg salad. When I was served my sandwich, it was always served this way – open faced with sliced tomatoes, red onions and a sprinkle of salty capers over top. I was completely hooked on it.

I recently ordered Pam Anderson’s Cook Without A Book and have been flipping pages through it for a few weeks now. She dedicates a couple of pages to her favorite versions of egg salad, so the other day when I found myself with plenty of eggs, egg salad made it’s way to the menu for lunch. I love Pam’s approach to cooking – free yourself from a “recipe” and just cook. That’s basically how I cook, so it was nice to see her book was organized and written in the same way – lots of “base recipes” with variations. That is my kind of cookin’.

From the egg salad page in Pam’s cookbook, this egg salad was born. It has all the things I love about egg salad – slightly creamy, tangy and crunchy…and the added bite of saltiness from the capers takes it to a whole new level. And as much as I wished I had a big, bready everything bagel to serve it on, I didn’t. Instead I used a puny Bagel Thin. It was still good though. I’ll save my big bagel for another day I guess.

Creamy Egg Salad with Capers
Recipe inspired by Pam Anderson, Cook Without A Book

8 hardboiled eggs, chopped
1-2 tablespoons light mayonnaise (I tend to go lighter on the mayo and heavier on the mustard, you decide based on your taste)
1-2 tablespoons your favorite mustard (I used a caramelized onion mustard from Stonewall Kitchen that was in my fridge and is completely awesome)
2 celery stalks, small diced
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons capers, drained and roughly chopped

for serving:
sliced tomatoes
thin sliced red onion
additional capers

In a large bowl combine chopped hard boiled egg, mayo, mustard, celery, capers, salt and pepper. Gently stir until thoroughly combined. Serve on toasted bread of choice (bagels, rye, flatbread crackers are all my favorite) along with sliced tomato, sliced red onion and capers sprinkled on top.

Hello Monday.

Call me crazy but I have been so looking forward to this Monday. This Monday (today) my kids went back to school after a long, full, and fun winter break. We enjoyed our time together but by about Wednesday of last week I was ready for ‘normal’ and most definitely routine. I had lots of holiday clutter around the house still and I don’t know about you but clutter makes me cranky. The kiddos and I had very different agendas if you know what I mean…

So this morning, after dropping off the kids and hitting the gym for a very rushed visit, I hit Target and came home with a few essentials I’ve been in need of…including my lovely new planner and some pretty new pens.

2012…I am so ready for you now.

Let me give you a little update on the ‘diet’ front. I ran into a little snafu this weekend. That snafu was this little number, and it was extra dirty with extra olives (stuffed with blue cheese omg!!) just the way I like it.

Let me just back up to say that I am totally okay with temporarily falling off the wagon. I fell and fell hard but I’m back in business today. That martini (and a few others) was well deserved and much enjoyed after a week of eating clean and losing a few pounds. And it was Saturday night, it was one of my BFFs 40th birthday, there was a limo, and there was dancing at a kinda sorta fancy martini bar. I mean…come on. The wagon didn’t have a chance.

Good times with good friends this weekend. And after a 4 hour nap yesterday (thank you to the hubby) I am finally feeling  normal again (I am too old for late nights at martini bars people…).

Let’s talk frittatas. As far as I’m concerned, they are one of the easiest, healthiest and quickest dinners (lunch or breakfast) to put together. Since I’ve started the 17 Day Diet last week, I’ve been kind of struggling with getting enough protein in some of my meals (I like fish, but not everyday…and chicken just really isn’t my favorite thing to eat so I avoid it if I can) so I find myself eating eggs pretty often. Which is okay, I like eggs. I especially like eggs when they are prepared like this though…

This frittata was so good. I thinly sliced up a medium sized zucchini and some onion, sauteed them in a nonstick skillet with cooking spray, salt and pepper…then added the whisked eggs and a little Parmesan cheese on top. I ate it up for dinner and was completely satisfied…so delicious. I ate the whole thing on my own, (I was starved), but this would also be great for 2 people if served along side something else, like a salad.

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Zucchini and Onion Frittata
Recipe from Aggie’s Kitchen

2 eggs
1/4 – 1/3 cup egg whites
1 medium zucchini, halved then sliced thin
1/4 large sweet onion, sliced thin
salt and pepper to taste
red pepper flakes, optional
2 teaspoons grated Parmesan cheese (if you are following 17 Day Diet, use reduced fat or fat free, I used regular)

Serves 2, or 1 very hungry person

Preheat broiler.

Heat a small nonstick skillet over medium heat. Spray pan with cooking spray and add sliced zucchini and onion to pan. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and cook for a few minutes until the vegetables start to soften.

In a bowl, whisk eggs and egg whites together. Add whisked eggs to pan, swirl eggs around pan and cook (without stirring) for a couple of minutes until the bottom starts to set. Using a spatula, gently pull egg from sides of pan and let any excess egg spill over into space. Sprinkle top of egg and zucchini mixture with grated parmesan cheese and put under broiler. Let cook under broiler for about 4-5 minutes, egg is cooked, bubbly and slightly browned. Slide onto plate, sprinkle with red pepper flakes if desired and enjoy.

More frittatas:

Kale and Parmesan Frittata from Aggie’s Kitchen
Roasted Vegetable and Goat Cheese Frittata from Aggie’s Kitchen
Asparagus, Spinach and Feta Frittata from Two Peas and Their Pod
Spinach, Mushroom and Red Bell Pepper Frittata from Bev Cooks

I think about food when I’m out on my runs. (Anyone want to chime in here or am I alone with this?) I’ve created so many recipes and menus in my head while running, I kind of find it comical in a way. But seriously, my running time is such a wonderful quiet time to ‘think’ without interruptions or distractions…so why not think of something you totally love…like food.

I love finishing my run and knowing exactly what I’m going to eat when I get home.

I did good today.

Kale and Parmesan Frittata (for one)

1 cup thinly sliced kale
1/2 teaspoon olive oil (I love this stuff for some extra flavor in small amounts)
small pinch of red pepper flakes
1 egg + 1/3 cup egg whites (or 2 eggs), whisked well
a bit of shredded parmesan cheese
1 plum tomato, chopped (for serving)

Turn on broiler.

In a small nonstick pan, heat oil over medium heat and add kale to pan. Saute until slightly soft and add pinch of salt and red pepper flakes. Saute for about 5 minutes total.
Pour in whisked eggs and swirl around pan. Using a spatula, gently pull egg from sides of pan and let any excess egg spill over into space. Sprinkle top of egg and kale mixture with shredded parmesan cheese and put under broiler. Let cook under broiler for about 4-5 minutes, egg is cooked, bubbly and slightly browned.

Slide onto plate, top with chopped tomato and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

And in case you are wondering…my photos came from my iPhone today. My friend Cheryl introduced me to the Camera+ app and I have been having some fun with it. I took the photos, edited them and emailed them to my computer in just a matter of minutes.

Recipe development while running and photos in under 5 minutes. This is totally my kind of blogging.

Have a great day people!

Hope everyone is enjoying their holidays…we have been busy spending time with family and friends the last couple of weeks so my blogging time has been quite limited.

But don’t think for a second that I have been too busy for the kitchen…

I will be posting recipes to all these yummies soon, but since you’ve probably had your fill of sweets and such this past week, I wanted to do something fun and different here at Aggie’s Kitchen.  Over the next five days I will be posting my favorite recipes of 2009.  These are recipes that were cooked and loved over the past year and with the help of my husband I was able to narrow it down to our top 5 favorites.

Check in each day and enjoy the countdown! 

One of our favorite breakfasts ever…if you like your food with a kick this is a must try for you!

#5 Chorizo and Eggs

Roasted Vegetable and Goat Cheese Frittata
Recipe from Aggie’s Kitchen

2 large eggs
1/3 cup egg whites, approximately 2 large egg whites
2 TB milk
1 zucchini, chopped in about 1″ pieces
1 – 2 squash, chopped in about 1″ pieces
1/2 medium red onion, chopped in about 1″ pieces
1 red bell pepper, chopped in about 1″ pieces
1 tsp olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
2 oz piece of Ile De France Goat Cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In small bowl, toss vegetables with olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread evenly on cookie sheet and place in hot oven. Roast for approximately 20-25 minutes until veggies are cooked.

Preheat the broiler. Whisk the eggs, milk, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl to blend. Set aside.

Spray an 8-inch-diameter nonstick ovenproof skillet and heat over medium high heat. Add roasted vegetables to the skillet, then pour the egg mixture over the vegetable mixture and cook for a few minutes until the eggs start to set. Crumble goat cheese over eggs and vegetables. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook until the frittata is almost set but the top is still runny, about 2 minutes. Place the skillet under the broiler. Broil until the top is set and golden brown on top, about 5 minutes. Let the frittata stand 2 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, loosen the frittata from skillet and slide the frittata onto a plate. Cut into triangles and serve.