Brunch is one of those weekend highlights– but it can be pretty frustrating. After waiting 30+ minutes of waiting for a table you treat yourself to what is usually a pretty indulgent meal, spend way too much money, and then want to nap for the rest of the day. It’s also amazing. My mission for this morning was to lighten up a classic brunch dish: french toast.

You know, I never figured out why more people don’t make french toast at home. It’s super simple, delicious, and makes you feel really fancy for making such a fun brunch! It’s one of my go-to impressive brunch dishes. The bonus? You can make a really delicious healthy version with just a couple of simple ingredients :egg, bread, cinnamon, oil/butter.

Here’s what I used today for 2 servings:

• 4 slices cinnamon raisin sprouted grain bread (my new obsession)
• 1/2 c egg beaters 
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon 
• 2 tsp coconut oil 
• whipped cream 
• maple syrup 

The prep is really simple: combine egg beaters (or 3 egg whites or 2 regular eggs) with 1 tsp ground cinnamon (you can also add some milk if you want, it will help create more liquid without adding more eggs). Dip both sides of each slice of bread until coated with egg mixture. Add 1 tsp coconut oil to pre-heated non stick pan (you can also use canola oil, butter, or Pam) and add bread to pan. Cook over medium heat for 3-4 minutes per side. The way I can tell when it’s ready is that the eggs start to set around the edges of the bread and the bread can move around the pan easily (if it sticks it’s not ready yet). 

My pan allowed me to cook 2 pieces at a time so I used the other tsp of coconut oil for the last 2 pieces.

To serve, I sliced each piece diagonally, added some whipped cream, a sprinkle of cinnamon, and some dark maple syrup (from Cedarvale of course). I added grapes for fruit and to make it feel more like we were eating at a restaurant… without the weight, the cost, and the nap. I challenge you to make french toast next weekend (or today if you’re a really late sleeper).

Frittata is one of my favorite brunch foods because it’s more fun than scrambled eggs or omelets, it feels indulgent, and it’s healthier than french toast or pancakes. It looks tricky but it’s actually super simple once you have the technique down.

Another great thing is that you can completely customize it based on the contents of your fridge/freezer. This week my fridge has been pretty under-stocked (I had to have matzo because we ran out of bread if that helps you visualize) but I did find:

• organic version of egg beaters 
• shredded mixed Italian cheese blend
• frozen spinach
• veggie bacon

Again, you can really use anything that’s in your fridge and if you are a real eggs person then you should crack the eggs in a bowl and mix them like you would do for an omelet because the trick of the frittata is not to touch it once the eggs hit the pan. You want it to come out of the pan, don’t you?

The first thing you want to do is prepare your ingredients. That means cooking anything that needs to be cooked. So in my case it was the veggie bacon and frozen spinach. As you might know, seasoning eggs is what will make them amazing or amazingly bland. You have two options for seasoning your frittata: season the vegetables, or season the egg mixture. This is easier if you’re using real eggs since you’ve already put them in a bowl to scramble them so you can just season in the bowl. Since my egg beaters were in a carton, I decided to season the spinach with some herbes de provence, salt, and pepper while it was cooking. Again, you can totally get creative with seasoning– do you like spice? Try red pepper flakes or cajun seasoning– some of my favorites for spinach! Once all your fillings are cooked, remove from pan and set aside. 

I want to talk about the pan for a minute– I used a small, non stick skillet. The trick with these skillets is to use olive oil or butter (not Pam– that will damage the non stick coating), and to get them pre-heated before you put the eggs in so that you get a nice golden brown color on the frittata and the eggs don’t stick to the pan.In order to watch the amount of oil I put in the pan I have one of these handy oil spritzers. I did use the same skillet for prepping my ingredients so I re-applied olive oil once I removed the spinach.

To build the frittata: distribute all non-cheese fillings evenly along bottom of pre-heated and oiled skillet, pour egg beaters (or egg mixture) over fillings to almost cover (this will be about 1/2 cup eggs), sprinkle cheese on top, cover and let cook for 3-4 minutes or until edges are golden brown and top is still wobbly.

This will get your frittata about 85% cooked. So you’ll need 5 minutes of your oven’s time to finish the job. Turn on your broiler. Place skillet in oven for 5-6 minutes until frittata cooks through. I would check on it after 4 minutes because you don’t want it to dry out. You’ll know it’s ready when the top is firm. REMEMBER THAT THE SKILLET HANDLE WILL BE HOT!! I know it looks inviting to touch it but don’t do it without an oven mit!

Turn your frittata out onto a plate and enjoy!