Mini Frittatas with Lox and Arugula

These Mini Frittatas with Lox and Arugula are an easy, portable, make ahead, breakfast. They are naturally gluten free, grain free, and Paleo.

I try to eat breakfast within an hour of waking, even if I’m not really hungry. On the days that I don’t do this, my blood sugar drops and I crave carbs around 10:00 a.m. Then I make a bad snack choice, which dominos into bad food choices all day long. This makes for a tired, hungry, and cranky Caroline.

I love Mini Frittatas because I can make them when I have time, and then on busy mornings, I can quickly reheat them in the microwave, and eat them on the go. They also make a great snack!

If you can’t find lox or Nova lox in your area, you can substitute smoked salmon. Lox is cured in mild brine, and then cold smoked. For more info on Lox, check out this link on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lox

I really fell in love with lox when I lived in Manhattan. Even the humblest of diner’s offered lox eggs and onions, or a bagel and schmere (cream cheese) with lox, tomatoes and red onions.

My favorite lox breakfast was Eggs Atlantic, (sometimes called eggs Hemingway). Instead of Canadian bacon, the poached egg rested on smoked salmon, or lox.

Sometimes restaurants would get really fancy and combine Eggs Florentine with Eggs Atlantic, adding sautéed spinach, kale or arugula to the mix. I tried to capture the essence of those New York City flavors, in these Mini Frittatas with Lox and Arugula.

If you are dairy free, you can omit the cream, however the frittatas won’t be as... well… creamy. If you are tolerant of dairy, try these with a bit of goat cheese. That’s want I plan for my next batch.

For step-by step instructions with photos, scroll down past the recipe.

Print Recipe

Mini Frittatas with Lox and Arugula

Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 1 Tbs olive oil
• 1 red onion chopped 1 & ¼ cups
• 5 oz of baby arugula about 8 cups, loosely packed
• 12 large eggs
• ¼ cup heavy cream optional
• ½ Tbs lemon zest
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp pepper
• 4 oz Nova lox
• I recommend using organic ingredients when possible.

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees
• Brush two standard size the muffin tins (6 cups per tin), with olive oil
• In a large bowl, whip the eggs and cream, then stir in the zest, salt and pepper.
• Heat olive oil in a pan over a medium burner. Saute the onion until soft, about 4 minutes.
• Add arugula to the pan. It will look like a lot, but it will wilt down. Sauté arugula until it is wilted, but still bright green. Immediately remove arugula and onions from the pan so the arugula does not continue to cook.
• Evenly disperse the arugula/onion mixture among the 12 muffin tin cups. Top them with an equal portion of the chopped lox.
• Add approximately 3 & ½ Tbs of the egg mixture to each muffin cup. I used a ¼ measuring cup to ladle the eggs, but did not fill it completely.
• Bake for 20 minutes, or until firm, puffed, and lightly browned.
• Let the frittatas rest for 5 minutes, and then remove them to a serving plate. If they stick to the muffin cups, run a small sharp knife around the perimeter of the frittatas, to free them.
• Serve hot or warm.
• Keep leftovers in the refrigerator covered for up to 5 days. To reheat, place frittatas on a microwave safe plate and heat for a minute on high, or until heated through.

Step-by-step instructions with photos:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Brush two standard size the muffin tins (6 cups per tin), with olive oil

In a large bowl, whip the eggs and cream, then stir in the zest, salt and pepper.

Heat olive oil in a pan over a medium burner. Sauté the onion until soft, about 4 minutes.

I like to pick up a package of organic, pre-washed arugula, it just makes life simpler.

Add arugula to the pan. It will look like a lot, but it will wilt down.

Sauté arugula until it is wilted, but still bright green. Immediately remove arugula and onions from the pan so the arugula does not continue to cook.

Evenly disperse the arugula/onion mixture among the 12 muffin tin cups. Top them with an equal portion of the chopped lox.

Add approximately 3 & ½ Tbs of the egg mixture to each muffin cup. I used a ¼ measuring cup to ladle the eggs, but did not fill it completely.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until firm, puffed, and lightly browned.

Let the frittatas rest for 5 minutes, and then remove them to a serving plate. If they stick to the muffin cups, run a small sharp knife around the perimeter of the frittatas, to free them. Serve hot or warm.

Keep leftovers in the refrigerator covered for up to 5 days. To reheat, place frittatas on a microwave safe plate and heat for a minute on high, or until heated through.