Sausage and Asparagus Frittata

Breakfast! It’s the most important meal of the day, but due to busy schedules and easily accessible snooze buttons, it’s the most often neglected as well. We cram everything we have to do to get out the door with enough time to make it to work that we compromise nutritional choices for convenience. We start our days on a diet of drive-through breakfasts, calorie-dense coffee drinks, processed convenience foods, donuts and sugared sodas. That only sets the table for more bad choices throughout the day.

I find that if I can make a good, sensible choice for my breakfast, I’m more inclined to stick to my plan for the rest of the day. If not, at least I can mark down one good decision. However, since going paleo, my breakfast has taken a major shift towards substantial plates of protein. This has been monopolized by fried eggs and bacon or my new go to: frittatas.

Prior to this program, I've had little exposure to what a frittata is. I knew it was somewhere between an omelet and an egg bake. I've since made several of these great meals for one simple fact: one cook makes several meals. Sure they may take a little extra time at first. I find if I make one on a Sunday morning, I’ve got several meals of delicious leftovers that I can just pop in the microwave and it’s ready in minutes.

As I've been getting my morning workouts in, I’m even more strapped for time before I have to be at work at 8 AM. My new discipline of paleo with emphasis on weight/fat loss has eliminated more than just the standards: cereals, milk, bagels, whey-based protein shakes. In addition, I've also decided to limit the amount of fruit that I eat. In past weight loss attempts, I always kept fruit within arms reach and I was frustrated when I wasn't getting the results that I expected. Since making this change, I have less cravings and the results have been evident.

Fruit is not always a resident on the “do not eat” Paleo lists, but as I want to lean out for my upcoming marathon, I’m doing what I can to shed fat.  Due to the sweet begets sweet philosophy, fruit makes your brain crave other sweet things and you’ll find yourself more inclined to snack on a sweet or crave a dessert or candy bar. I do what I can to avoid this temptation, and therefore I eat very little fruit on my current diet. This limits my ability to make a quick smoothie or grab a banana or apple as I walk out the door.

That brings us to today’s recipe. Frittatas are great because they are a way to pack a variety of meat options and vegetable combinations. It also helps you use up the vegetables in your refrigerator before they go bad. This morning, I made one of my favorite combinations: sausage, tomato and asparagus. I also love putting shredded sweet potatoes, mushrooms, bacon, peppers or onions to completely change the flavor profile and keep you eating a variety of meals. I choose not to use any dairy or cheese in my recipe to avoid the lactose, but if your digestion allows for it, go ahead and throw some in there.

Start with a high-sided skillet that is safe for use in the oven. Get that on the burner at medium heat. Also, preheat the oven at 350. I start by browning and crumbling a half pound of Pork Sausage. As that browns, I start to chop up my vegetables. I cut 1 cup of Grape Tomatoes in half and chop the stems of 8 trimmed Asparagus Spears, leaving their tips intact  in about 3 inch pieces.

Throw the tomatoes and stems into the pan with the sausage and toss in a half teaspoon of Dried Thyme and season with Salt and Pepper. Keep the asparagus tips aside for later. 

As the vegetables cook, crack 8 Eggs into a bowl and whisk with a quarter cup of canned, full fat Coconut Milk and a couple dashes of Hot Sauce until well blended. Once the asparagus has softened and tomatoes have begun to blister, slowly stream the egg mixture into the pan. It’s important to do it relatively slowly so you don’t cause all the meat and vegetables to move into one side of the pan; promoting even distribution of ingredients. 

When the eggs have settled in, I arrange the 8 asparagus tips on the top in a bicycle wheel spoke fashion. This will not only make for better presentation, but more importantly serves as a guide to cut it into 8 even portions. This is obviously optional, but it helps me with portion control when I slice it up.

Carefully put the pan into the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until it puffs up a bit and gets golden brown. You should be able to stick a toothpick in and it will come out clean to test for the eggs doneness. I let it set for 5-10 minutes and then remove it from the pan before slicing.

Here is the official recipe:

Sausage and Asparagus Frittata
1/2 lb Pork Sausage, crumbled
1 cup Grape Tomatoes, halved
8 Asparagus Spears, trimmed with stems chopped and tips intact
1/2 tsp dried Thyme
8 Eggs
1/4 cup Coconut Milk, canned, full fat
Hot Sauce
Salt and Pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Brown sausage in a high-sided, oven –safe pan and add asparagus stems, tomatoes and thyme, season with Salt and Pepper
3. Whisk eggs with coconut milk and hot sauce, pour into meat when vegetables are softened
4. Arrange asparagus tips on top like bike wheel spokes
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown and done
6. Cut into 8 slices and eat

A standard breakfast for me using this recipe would be two slices of frittata and a quarter cup of home-fermented vegetables like sauerkraut. The fermented vegetables are there to provide you with the digestive aiding power of probiotics. I've mentioned this before, but I truly believe it helps.

I hope you find today’s post informative and enjoy the recipe. I rarely make the same recipe back to back, but I find that I've had leftover frittata every week for the past few months because I’m able to pack it up and take it to eat at the office if I don’t have the time to eat it at home.

As I mentioned, I’m on the verge of embarking on 16 weeks of Marathon training so I’ve begun to assemble my 2014 Marathon Mix that I’ll evolve as the long runs get longer in hopes that I can pick the perfect playlist to get me from start to finish on Saturday, June 21st. Expect to hear about that in coming weeks.

As always, thanks for eating.