Zucchini-Potato Frittata

Since my partner decided to turn vegetarian two weeks ago, I'm always searching for vegetarian recipes. Normally, I would prepare a week's worth of menu, but now I just decide a day before what to cook the next day. Today though I had didn't know what to cook for dinner, then decided to try this frittata recipe that is similar to a recipe I made last week from Heidi Swanson's cookbook, Cook 1.0. I wanted to make use of the potato and zucchini I had in the pantry.

serves 4-6
from Andrea Chesman's Serving Up the Harvest

1 medium zucchini or yellow summer squash, sliced
Salt
4-5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, or more as needed
1 1/2 pounds waxy potatoes, thinly sliced
1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
1/4 pound smoked Canadian bacon or ham, diced
6 eggs
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup grated Cheddar

1. Combine the zucchini and 1 teaspoon salt in a colander and toss well. Set aside to drain for 30 minutes.

2. Heat 3 tablespoons of the oil over medium-high heat in a large, well-seasoned cast-iron skillet or ovenproof nonstick skillet. Add the potatoes and onion, reduce the heat to medium-low, and cook, flipping and stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are soft, about 20 minutes. Increase the heat to medium-high and continue cooking, tossing occasionally, until the potatoes are are brown, about 5 minutes. Remove the potatoes with a slotted spoon but keep the skillet on the burner.

3. Transfer the zucchini to a clean kitchen towel and pat dry. Add the zucchini and Canadian bacon to the skillet and sauté over medium-high heat, until the zucchini is just tender, about 4 minutes. Remove the zucchini and Canadian bacon with a slotted spoon. Keep the skillet over the heat.

4. Beat the eggs and pepper to taste in a medium bowl until well blended. Fold in the potatoes, zucchini and Canadian bacon, and cheese.

5. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of the remaining oil to the skillet as needed to lightly coat the bottom. Pour in the egg mixture, reduce the heat to medium-low, and cook without stirring until the bottom is set, about 10 minutes.

6. Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake until the top is set, 5 to 15 minutes, checking every 5 minutes.

7. Place a serving plate on top of the skillet and carefull invert. The frittata should fall out of the pan. Cut into wedges and serve.

• We found the initial step of salting the zucchini to be interesting. Was this to remove bitterness? This is the only salt added in the recipe and we were afraid it would be bland, but apparently the salted zucchini juice oozed out into everything else and made it taste great. We also didn't notice the watery texture we've experienced in other veggie quiches.

• Cooking the bacon and zucchini together really enhanced the flavor of both.

• Cooking the potatoes and onions did take longer than we expected - about 30 minutes. We may have just cut the potato slices too thick.

All in all, this was a great recipe - delicious, easy, and foolproof. We highly recommend it - along with the book.