I discovered a CHESTNUT TREE in my neighborhood!!!!! This is momentous. Monumental. Potentially delicious! As it has become readily apparent, I am a true chestnut lover. I roast them probably four times per week while they are in season. I just can’t get enough! I’ve researched chestnuts before and discovered that they grow in multiples inside of threatening looking pods. And today, when I was walking Stella, I noticed a bunch of those pods all over the ground! Most of them were empty (the squirrels beat me to them), but some had some tiny, under-developed chestnuts inside. Sorry mom, but I WILL EAT THESE if they look good one day.
After kicking at the ground for about five minutes, I looked up and saw many, many more green chestnut pods still on the tree. At this point, a man came over and started talking to me about the tree. He was really into chestnut trees too and had known about this one before. After much chestnut tree chatter, he asked if I ever roast chestnuts. My face lit up as I exclaimed a resounding, “YES!” His face then fell as he said, “Oh, so you’re my competition,” and started walking away. I yelled after him that I’d never roasted chestnuts from a tree before, but the damage was done. Maybe I’ll have to do my foraging at night from now on!
After they left in the late afternoon, I got into bed. I watched a billion episodes of “Accidentally on Purpose,” and I was so full that I didn’t eat another bite for the rest of the day. I’m not normally a fan of ground meat, but these meatballs were to die for. They’re full of parmesan cheese. They were dense, satisfying, and deeply flavorful. My friend’s guest post on the meatballs should appear here soon. I’ll definitely make them on my own. It would be DELICIOUS to make tiny ones and put them in soup. Just thinking about it is making me full!
The first step in making a frittata is deciding what fillings you want to include. I chose eggplant, onions, and broccoli. Zucchini, carrots, bacon, or mushrooms would all be delicious options too. You should cook your vegetables before starting the frittata because the eggs cook relatively quickly and you don’t want to end up with a crispy veggie frittata. You should have at least 2 eggs per serving in your frittata, but 3 doesn’t hurt either! Whisk your eggs, and season them with salt and pepper. You can mix pre-cooked vegetables into your whisked eggs, or you can brown the veggies in a frying pan and add your eggs to them. 
Choose a frying pan that will allow your frittata to be about an inch thick, and coat it with nonstick spray. Let the eggs and veggies cook in the pan over medium heat, without stirring them, until the edges of the eggs are cooked and firm. The top of the eggs will still be watery. Now comes the exciting part! Place a plate face down on the top of your pan, and place your palm on top of the plate. Flip the frying pan and the plate over together so the frittata drops top down onto the plate. Add more nonstick spray to your pan and slide the frittata back in with the uncooked side on the bottom.
Your frittata is fully cooked when a skewer or fork stuck into the center of the eggs comes out dry. Slide the frittata onto a side plate and serve! I love how the eggs turn golden brown but have specks of color from the veggies.
I also think it’s pretty cool to look at a cross section of the frittata to see how the different veggies are layered inside. Serve your frittata with a salad and enjoy your healthy, filling, minimum-preparation dinner!