Veggie Strata

Stratas are great for the end of the month when you need to stretch that grocery budget because they use inexpensive ingredients that you probably have left over in the fridge anyway.  The base of a strata is bread, eggs and milk.  What you add to that is up to you.  Below is a basic veggie strata recipe using leftover veggies from my fridge today.

I like to make these in 8-ounce ramekins because they're pretty, and it's built-in portion control.  You can also make this recipe in an 8"x8" square baking pan.

Veggie Strata

Ingredients:

• Smart Balance
• 4 slices of 100% whole wheat bread
• 8 large eggs
• 3/4 cup nonfat milk
• salt & pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 medium onion, sliced
• 1/2 medium red bell pepper, sliced
• 2 medium zucchini, thinly sliced into half-moons
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 4 tablespoons of shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 4 tablespoons of shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Grease 4 8-ounce ramekins with Smart Balance.  Using a round cookie or biscuit cutter the same diameter as your ramekins, cut out 4 circles from the 4 bread slices.  (Put the bread scraps into a plastic bag and throw into the freezer to use later as croutons or bread crumbs.) Place one bread circle at the bottom of each greased ramekin.  Set aside.
• In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, and salt and pepper to taste (I used approximately 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper).  Pour some egg mixture into each ramekin, just enough to cover the bread.  Set everything aside.
• In a sauté pan, heat olive oil on medium heat.  Add onion slices and sauté until soft, about 7 minutes.  Then add the rest of the veggies, garlic and salt and pepper to taste, and continue to sauté until everything is soft.  Set aside.
• By this point, the egg mixture that was poured into the ramekins should have all been soaked up by the bread slices.
• Top each soaked bread slice with 1 tablespoon of mozzarella and 1 tablespoon of Parmesan.  Add the sauteed veggie mixture, dividing it evenly among the 4 ramekins.  Then pour the remaining egg mixture evenly into each ramekin.
• Place the ramekins onto a baking sheet (this step is important, since the stratas will puff up while baking, and possibly bubble over, making a mess in your oven if you don't use the baking sheet).  
• Bake in the center rack of the pre-heated oven for 30 minutes.  (If you are making one big strata as opposed to 4 ramekins, increase the baking time to 40 - 45 minutes.  The strata should be completely set and not jiggle when it's fully cooked.)
• The stratas will puff up while baking, but after they're removed from the oven, they will quickly deflate.  Let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

You can serve these right from the ramekins, or you can take them out.  They should pop out of the ramekins very easily.