Middle Eastern Frittata

Baked frittatas are my go-to for using up old vegetables (red lentil soup is the other). I sauté the vegetables in olive oil until they have released their moisture, combine with eggs and cheese, seasonings, leftover grain if I have it, and bake in quiche pans or muffin tins.

This frittata is unusually fresh-tasting, however, because it used uncooked vegetables and herbs, and yet it is not watery, thanks to a couple of tricks.  For two 8-9 inch pans (8 dinner servings), start by coarsely grating 1 1/2 pounds of small zucchini.

Sprinkle with one scant teaspoon of salt and let sit at least an hour (or all day if you like). When ready to bake, place handfuls of the now soggy zucchini in a handkerchief and squeeze out all the liquid. Place the dry zucchini in a bowl and add one generous bunch of chopped green onion, a few handfuls of parsley and and a handful of mint, 8 eggs (my picture shows only 6 but I realized later I needed more), ground pepper, and about 10 ounces of crumbled feta cheese. NB: One friend made this recipe using US (Wisconsin) feta and found it too salty with 10 ounces. The Greek brand I used was not too salty. Also note that today I had to use less parsley and mint than usual because it’s not yet abundant in our garden. So the picture of the herbs on the chopping board is misleading in terms of the ideal.) Here’s the other trick: add two heaping tablespoons of powdered pea protein. This not only increases the nutritional value of the frittata, but also absorbs any excess moisture. I buy it online–it’s the main ingredient in Beyond Meat, for example. If you don’t have pea protein, I think any finely milled and blandly flavored grain, bean or even nut flour would work. Combine everything well and spoon into greased quiche pans (or cake pans, anything low).  Bake at 375 until puffed and a little brown around the edge, 30 minutes. It tastes good hot, warm, or cold, and keeps for five days, refrigerated.