Cooking Article

The popularity of breakfast foods is a good reason to keep dependable starters
such as eggs
bread and other staples
on hand. But why reserve them only for morning meals? Planning breakfast for dinner is a good way to serve up simple
satisfying evening meals without spending a lot of time in the kitchen.

A strata is one easy-to-prepare dish that can go from breakfast to dinner with ease. The word strata means layers and the layers of Tomato Strata Florentine are simply cubed bread
torn spinach and seasoned chopped tomatoes. An egg-milk custard poured over the top binds the bright-colored layers together and causes the bread to puff up during baking.

For single diners or families whose members eat at separate times
bake the ingredients in individual custard cups which you can refrigerate and reheat in the microwave. For a family meal
use a baking pan. Either way
you can make the strata the night before you want to serve it. Simply leave a note for the first one home to pop it into the oven.

This budget-wise combination is nutrient dense. Along with cheese and milk
the eggs provide about 1/3 of your daily protein needs
while the bread and tomato supply carbohydrates. Together
the ingredients add up to an impressive array of needed vitamins and minerals
at less than 200 calories and only 8 grams of fat per serving.

Other breakfast dishes make good dinners
too. Quick-cooking scrambled eggs are easy to dress up with pasta or rice and onions
peppers
mushrooms or other flavoring foods. Poached eggs combine well with breads
veggies and cheeses.

Tomato Strata Florentine

4 servings


Cooking spray

2 cups torn fresh spinach (about 4 oz.)

2 slices whole wheat bread
cubed (about 1 1/2 cups)

1 cup chopped fresh tomato (about 1 medium)

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
crushed

4 eggs

1 cup skim or low-fat (1%) milk

1/4 cup (1 oz.) shredded low-moisture
part-skim mozzarella cheese


For individual cups: Evenly coat 4 (10-ounce) custard cups with spray. Place 1/2 cup of the spinach in each cup. Sprinkle each with about 1/3 cup of the bread cubes. In medium bowl
stir together tomato and seasoning until tomato is evenly coated with seasoning. Spoon 1/4 cup tomato mixture over bread cubes in each cup. In medium bowl
beat together eggs and milk. Slowly pour scant 1/2 cup egg mixture over tomato mixture in each cup. Sprinkle each with 1 tablespoon of the cheese.

Bake in preheated 350 degree F oven until custards are puffed and begin to pull away from sides of cups and knife inserted near centers comes out clean
about 30 minutes.

For baking pan: Layer entire amounts of all ingredients as above in sprayed 8 x 8 x 2-inch baking pan. Bake as above.

Nutritional information for 1 serving of 1/4 recipe using skim milk: 175 calories
8
gm total fat
218
mg cholesterol
238
mg sodium
469
mg potassium
14
gm total carbohydrate
13
gm protein and 10% or more of the RDI for vitamins A
B12 and C
riboflavin
calcium
iron
phosphorus
zinc