Spinach, Bacon, and Tomato Egg Bake

This recipe originated from one I found on eatingwell.com for “Broccoli-Cheese Pie”. One day I wanted to make it, but didn’t have broccoli. I decided to change up the greens. After a while this recipe evolved and it is delicious! It is really easy to throw together and forget in the oven for 45 minutes.

 I especially love this dish because it’s not as calorie-ridden as quiche because it doesn’t have a crust, it has bread IN it instead. However, I adore quiche (especially the crust haha). My mom made a mexican one for the morning after my birthday (my 21st birthday to be exact :S) that I will be making soon and hopefully posting on here.. if I approve it.

This can be eaten for breakfast or dinner… I personally LOVE it for dinner; it’s light and fresh, and who doesn’t like breakfast for dinner? Hey, even if you don’t.. I think you’ll still like this recipe, I mean come on… it has bacon in it and it’s still healthy.  It’s best with fresh basil on top and kosher salt.

Ingredients:

2 cups whole-wheat bread cubed (or whatever bread you have on hand)

1 1/4 cups skim milk

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 medium onion, chopped

2 1/2 oz bacon cut into cubes, you can opt for turkey bacon too

1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

2 medium tomatoes, de-seeded, chopped

10 oz spinach, washed, and roughly chopped (about six cups)

1/4 tsp salt (more kosher salt for garnish)

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/4 tsp dried oregano

freshly cracked pepper

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the milk, spices, eggs, onion, cheese, and bacon (if you want you can cook the bacon first, but make sure to keep the bacon fat. Use this to grease your baking pan:) ) Whisk to combine. Now add the tomatoes and spinach. It will look like it won’t cook right, but the spinach will wilt a lot!

 

Now put it all into your greased pan:

 *I was only making this for myself so I cut the recipe in half to make 3 servings and baked it in a bread pan!

You can use a 9 x 9 square or round pan, whatever you want. Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes, until golden. Let it cool for a few minutes and then dig in! This yields 6 servings.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION:

Calories: 263   Fat: 14g (saturated 5g)   Fiber: 3g   Protein: 16g   Sodium: 483mg

*This dish gives you 101% of your daily recommended Vitamin A! It also provides ~293% of Vitamin K (wow), 34% Vitamin C,  32% folate, and more (good source of manganese, selenium, phosphorus, calcium, and protein!). If you don’t know what these vitamins and minerals are or what they do feel free to leave a comment for more information. Or you can always find some answers on the web.