Budget Bytes

05 November 2010

veggie egg casserole

$7.28 recipe / $0.81 serving
Okay, I've been without my beloved egg sandwiches for TWO WEEKS now and I'm seriously craving some eggy goodness. So it's time for a compromise. I made a veggie packed egg casserole with only half the yolks, the expensive "less saturated fat + omega 3" eggs and low fat cheese.

I physically had a very hard time throwing the yolks away because a) they're my favorite part and b) I HATE throwing food away. Sure, I could have saved them to use in something else but then that would have negated not using them to begin with. But, I guess it's worth me dying of heart disease.

ANYWAY, the casserole turned out de-li-cious and it will definitely satisfy my egg craving while supplying lots of nutrients and fiber. If you don't want to make the low saturated fat version, just use 10 eggs instead of my 15 (5 whole, 10 just whites). Plus, this is a great "sweep your kitchen" recipe. You can put in any veggies you want so be sure to chop up and throw in any vegetables that look like they might be on their way out.

Vegetable egg casserole


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Total Recipe cost: $7.28
Servings Per Recipe: 9
Cost per serving: $0.81
Prep time: 20 min. Cook time: 40 min. Total: 1 hr.

INGREDIENTS COST
1 Tbsp olive oil $0.10
1 medium onion $0.35
2 cloves garlic $0.10
4 medium roma tomatoes $1.08
16 oz. frozen chopped spinach $1.34
to taste tony cachere's
(or seasoning salt)
$0.05
to taste salt and pepper $0.05
15 large eggs (5 whole, 10 whites) $2.60
1.5 cups shredded cheese $1.49
as needed spray oil $0.05
TOTAL $7.28


STEP 1: Heat a Tbsp of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Chop the onion and garlic and add to the hot pan. Saute until they are soft and transparent (3-5 minutes).

STEP 2: While the onions are cooking, place the frozen spinach in a glass bowl and defrost in the microwave (about ten minutes). While the spinach is defrosting and the onions are cooking, dice the tomatoes.

STEP 3: Add the diced tomatoes to the skillet with the onion and garlic. Season the mixture heavily with salt, pepper and a seasoning salt like Tony Cachere's. Or you can use any seasoning blend you would like. Italian herbs would also work nicely (basil and oregano). Cook about five minutes more or until the tomatoes just become soft then turn the heat off.

STEP 4: When the spinach has thawed, squeeze as much water out as you can. Add the squeezed spinach to the tomato mixture and stir it up well. Give it a taste to see if it needs more seasoning.

STEP 5: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk them (they don't need to be uniform in color and texture, just stirred up well). Spray the inside of a large 8x11 inch glass casserole dish with non-stick spray.

STEP 6: Place the tomato, spinach and onion mixture in the bottom of the casserole dish. Top it with 1 cup of shredded cheese. Pour the whisked eggs over top and then sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese. Place in the oven and bake for about 40 minutes or until it is puffed up and golden brown on top. Cut into 9 pieces.

vegetable egg casserole

I served mine with a little light sour cream (just because I had some left over in the fridge) and a bit of hot sauce. Serve this along side of some Honey Wheat Toast and maybe a piece of fruit and you've got a five star breakfast!!

Alternatively, you can bake these in individual muffin tins although it seems like dividing everything up might be a little tedious.

Step By Step Photos


onions and garlic
Saute the onions and garlic in a skillet with olive oil. What would my life be without onions and garlic? Very bland.

tomatoes and seasoning
Once the onions and garlic have softened, add the diced tomatoes. Season it up good with salt, pepper and whatever else you'd like. I used Tony's because it's spicy and delicious. Season it heavily because this is all of the seasoning for the whole dish and it will get diluted with the other ingredients.

frozen spinach
Place the frozen spinach in a microwave safe dish and defrost it in the microwave. Or, think about it ahead of time and defrost on the counter.

thawed spinach
Once the spinach has thawed, squeeze out as much liquid as possible. This is the before shot, I forgot to get an after. But, once it's squeezed out it is about half this volume.

spinach tomatoes
Add the spinach to the tomatoes and stir it up. Give it a taste to see if it needs any more salt or seasoning. Do it now because you can't taste it after adding the raw eggs!!

eggs
Crack your eggs into a bowl and give them a good whisk. You don't need to beat air in or anything, just stir them up and make sure the yolks are broken. I used 5 whole eggs and 10 egg whites.

build casserole
Spray the inside of a large rectangular casserole dish with non-stick spray. Lay the spinach and tomato mixture in the bottom.

cheese
Sprinkle on one cup of cheese.

pour on eggs
Pour the eggs on top.

more cheese
Sprinkle on the last 1/2 cup of cheese.

baking egg casserole
Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for about 40 minutes or until it is puffed up and golden brown on top. This picture is about 30 minutes in when it was puffed but not yet golden.

baked breakfast casserole
And this is the end product. Sooo yummy.

vegetable egg breakfast casserole

Now I have breakfast taken care of for the week!
(and I've got my egg fix - YAY!)

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14 Comments:

  • At November 5, 2010 at 5:38 PM , Blogger Monica P said...

    looks delicious. can't wait to try it

     
  • At November 5, 2010 at 6:16 PM , Blogger Alana said...

    I love spinach with eggs! There's a recipe I make that's similar, with parm, orzo pasta, roasted peppers, and whatever else sounds good (peas, green onion, etc). Adding pasta is definitely a good way to stretch this even further. Yum!

     
  • At November 5, 2010 at 7:10 PM , Blogger Lisa@Pickles and Cheese said...

    Mmm, this looks delicious. I have to give it a try. Spinach, eggs, cheese...can't go wrong!

     
  • At November 6, 2010 at 8:36 AM , Blogger Unknown said...

    Sold! Looks delicious, just in time for breakfast today and I even have some extra veggies I didn't know what to do with.

     
  • At November 6, 2010 at 4:42 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

    I hope those 'expensive "less saturated fat + omega 3" eggs' eggs are from free-range chickens!

     
  • At November 6, 2010 at 5:37 PM , Blogger Miss ShinoBee said...

    Mmm...so wanna try this! :D

     
  • At November 8, 2010 at 10:45 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

    If you're not using the yolks, you're not getting those omega 3s (which is fat, and in the yolk). You're also getting a lot less saturated fat, but not by virtue of the expensive eggs, by removing those yolks that you paid more for... Hate to drop a blog snark, but this seemed silly. You're not getting the health benefits of what you're not eating. You're not getting the cost benefits from removing the yolks from regular more saturated fat eggs either.

     
  • At November 9, 2010 at 12:14 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

    I made this last night and it turned out great. I think I would call it a quiche more than a casserole though. I feel like I am eating pretty healthy. I put salsa and sour cream on top. Delicious! I think I will also try it with Louisiana hot sauce or Frank's hot sauce, but the sour cream definitely made it better. Thanks again!

     
  • At February 23, 2011 at 9:16 PM , Anonymous Katyusha said...

    Don't throw out the yolks - freeze them if you have to wait a while - but save them to make zabaglione! Classy and very easy custard (IIRC, Alton Brown's recipe calls for just yolks, sugar, and marsala wine, but you can jazz it up in many different ways to make a nice dessert for company). And then, with a bottle of marsala wine to use up, you can make chicken marsala. :)

     
  • At September 19, 2011 at 9:08 PM , Blogger lhnl333 said...

    Beth- If I were to use the yolks...how many whole eggs would I use?

     
  • At September 19, 2011 at 9:15 PM , Blogger Beth M said...

    Ihnl333 - I would use ten. But if you want more, you could certainly use up to 15 :)

     
  • At February 4, 2012 at 11:37 PM , Blogger NomieRae said...

    Would it freeze well?

     
  • At February 5, 2012 at 5:32 AM , Blogger Beth M said...

    NomieRae- I find that egg dishes freeze just okay. The egg tends to "see" a little moisture upon reheating, but that may or may not bother you. I know a lot of people who freeze egg dishes like this in single serving sized portions in a muffin tin and they seem to like it very well.

     
  • At March 31, 2013 at 4:10 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

    If you didn't want to use the yolks, you could have bought eggs whites in the carton.

     

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