Green Monster Swiss Chard Frittata

I cut back the last of the (bolted) over-wintered chard this week, and harvested the final leaves to make this swiss chard frittata. Since newly planted greens are ready to harvest now, too, this recipe seemed timely.

With zucchini, plenty of herbs, and a pile of hardy greens, this is a great light summer meal. If you have a garden, you’re probably already growing most, if not all, of the veg you need here. And if not, it’s all easy to find at this time of year.

The vegetables are quickly cooked in the same pan you bake the frittata in. If you don’t have an oven-safe frying pan, don’t worry. Just switch it over to a baking dish before adding the custard mixture and you’re good to go.

Ingredients

• Olive Oil: to sauté the vegetables. A little oil is important to prevent the frittata from sticking to the pan after baking.
• Onion: small, red or white.
• Zucchini: cooking the zucchini before baking helps to reduce the water content – if using raw zucchini, you often get watery pockets in the custard.
• Garlic: we’re pushing this a bit further than usual to get a strong golden colour, improving the overall flavour.
• Swiss Chard: I always remove the tough stems but you don’t have to if you like them – they can be pickled if you want to reduce waste.
• Eggs: there is no substitute for eggs in this recipe. Room temperature will give you the best results, as always.
• Non-dairy Milk: I always use oat milk, but any unsweetened type (barring coconut) is fine.
• Herbs: dill is particularly good and what’s featured in the recipe, but any herbs you particularly like will be good.
• Spices: salt, pepper, and optional hot pepper.

How-to

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Notes and Substitutions

Of course, any hardy greens can be subbed for chard. Kale, spinach, or rucola are all great here and others like beet greens work too.

Change the herbs based on your preference, and note that they make up a large part of the flavour profile here. Basil and chives are excellent options. I don’t really recommend dried herbs in this recipe but they can be used in a pinch.

Add other veg as you like – mushrooms, sweet peppers, cherry tomatoes – whatever you have on hand. This takes away from the ‘green monster’ feeling a bit, but green isn’t the only healthy colour!

Avoid over-baking. The frittata should be just set, with barely golden edges, when it’s ready. Over-baked and it will be rubbery and horrible. The centre will likely puff up during baking, completely normal, and it will deflate after coming out of the oven.

Leftovers are surprisingly good cold, but don’t keep well for more than a day. I always polish off any leftovers in the evening rather than letting it sit overnight in the refrigerator (this still bugs my partner, but I do leave food out at room temp. I know it’s not common in North America but we have no fridge space!)

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This recipe was first shared in August 2014. It has been updated with improvements to the recipe as of July 2021.