55°
Enter: The Cooking Fairy, aka Joanna Wallis, a busy mom of three and an experienced personal chef. Her idea for all those storm supplies: A Produce Drawer Strata, which serves eight. (Use a 9 x 13 casserole dish.)
She said you can substitute the vegetables for three to four cups of anything you have on hand in your refrigerator's produce drawer ... just be sure to saute or lightly steam vegetables like cauliflower or broccoli first.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 tbsp. unsalted butter
- 1 onion, diced
- 8 eggs, beaten
- 2 cups milk
- 12-15 slices of store-bought sliced bread
- 1 1/2 cups grated cheese; cheddar is good
- 2 cups firmly packed baby spinach
- 1 cup broccoli florets, cut small (about 1/2 inch florets)
- 1 diced red pepper
- 1 cup diced ham/sausage if you have it
- 1 tablespoon of fresh rosemary or thyme (or 1 tsp of dried)
Method
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease your casserole dish with butter.
- Heat the olive oil and butter in a 12-inch skillet, and gently saute onions and red pepper for about seven minutes until tender, add and uncooked meat if using at this stage and brown until cooked.
- Add the broccoli florets and cook for another four minutes until lightly cooked but still crunchy and bright green.
- Add the spinach and stir and cook for about one minute longer until spinach wilts.
- Cube bread slices into 1 inch dice and place on baking sheet and bake in oven for about five to seven minutes until lightly toasted and crispy.
- Beat eggs, add milk and cheese and herbs and combine with crisped bread slices and vegetables.
- Pile mixture into casserole and bake for 40-45 minutes until firm and set to touch. Let rest for five minutes and serve.
For more information on Wallis's services, call 914-548-9379 or go to www.thefairycook.com.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Greenwich and receive free news updates.
