Garden's Bounty: Bell Pepper Frittata Cups

In the six years that my husband and I have been together I have made stuffed peppers exactly twice.

The first time was early on in our relationship...well, at least early enough that he dutifully downed his entire pepper, trying not to show his displeasure, before kindly telling me that- while it wasn't my fault- he really didn't like stuffed peppers.  At all.  Of any kind.

They have been on the "do not make under any circumstances" list ever since.

Until about a week ago, that is.

You see, the yellow bell peppers in my garden are finally ripe.  They are HUGE, firm, sweet, lovely, specimens.  

I have approximately 5 million of them that I'm working through at the moment- it's all peppers all the time.  Good thing he likes fajitas!  I said something offhand to my husband along the lines of, "too bad you won't eat stuffed peppers, that would sure help get rid of some of these!"

He looked at me like I was crazy.

"No, it's only stuffed green peppers I don't like!"

What?  No...certainly not...he had told me in no uncertain terms YEARS ago that no kind of stuffed pepper was acceptable to his palate.  

However, this was good news given the number of peppers I was facing, so last night I made breakfast for dinner, featuring Bell Pepper Frittata Cups.  Frittata with bacon and sausage on the side- yum, right?

Yeah, not so much.  I placed a beautifully plated frittata cup in front of him, watched him take a bite, and saw his face sort of...wrinkle.  He picked, he poked, he nibbled- he gave up.

"But I thought you liked stuffed yellow peppers?!?  You TOLD me!" I protested.

"I guess I was wrong...it tastes like yellow pepper..."

Ok, for the record, yes, it tastes like yellow pepper- it's cooked in a bell pepper- but it also tastes like garden-fresh tomato sautéed with onion and a hint of herbs.  It's sooooo yummy.

Don't judge this recipe just because my husband is fickle and doesn't understand the delicious beauty of a perfectly sweet bell pepper.  Don't listen to him at all.

Unless you share his weirdness when it comes to bell peppers- then you should probably take his advice.

Me?  I'll be eating these a lot until my garden is done throwing these beauties at me, and most likely long after.

Super good, super easy, and well worth a try!

Bell Pepper Frittata

From Allrecipes.com

1 teaspoon butter

1 tablespoon chopped onion

1 roma (plum) tomato, seeded and chopped

2 eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon butter (optional)

1 pinch dried tarragon, or to taste

1 pinch dried basil, or to taste

1 pinch salt and ground black pepper to taste

1 teaspoon shredded Cheddar cheese, or to taste

1 large red (or orange, or yellow...)bell pepper, top and seeds removed

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. Heat the butter in a skillet over medium heat until the foam subsides, and cook and stir the onion and tomato until the onion is translucent and the liquid from the tomato has evaporated, about 8 minutes. Transfer the tomato and onion to a bowl. Pour the beaten eggs into the cooked vegetables, and stir in tarragon, basil, salt, black pepper, and Cheddar cheese until thoroughly combined. Pour the egg mixture into the red bell pepper, and set into a small baking dish, standing upright. Cover the dish and pepper with foil.

3. Bake in the preheated oven until the pepper is tender and the eggs are set, about 55 minutes.