This recipe for sweet potato and zucchini strata bake now has a video!
So strata bakes, they usually use layers of bread and other stuff to fill up the tray, but for this sweet potato and zucchini healthy strata bake...I've ditched the bread!
All of it has been replaced with thinly sliced sweet potato and zucchini and as a bonus, there are even corn and peas in there! That's a big step towards the 5 a day veggies we should be having! And it's designed for breakfast time.
If you're looking for a way to increase the protein you're giving the kids at either breakfast or lunch, this is a perfect way. In fact with this many veggies, it also makes an awesome dinner for nights when you need something quick and easy.
I freeze in portions and defrost as needed. I either leave it in the fridge to defrost or if we need dinner in a hurry, I quickly microwaveit.
Now the usual strata bake would have layers of bread, so the layers of veggies make this much healthier. By all accounts it also makes it much yummier!
And yes I guess I could call this is frittata, but that's just boring. And anyway, it's the layering that makes this look so appealing.
If you're looking at this wondering about other times it would be great: think summer picnics! This is perfect for sharing.
I've cut this one into 10 but...they are generous slices, and it could easily have been cut into twenty pieces if it was part of a sharing lunch. Or double it and feed even more!
The great thing about this apart from the fact that it's delicious hot or cold...is that the veggies help to hold it all together as they are in strips, making it transportable.
Love sweet potatoes?
So do we! So here are some more awesome ways to use them:
- Sweet potato, broccoli and carrot tortilla quiches
- Sweet potato and apple fritters
- Sweet potato gingerbread- low sugar, freezer friendly
- 15 ways to supercharge your meals with sweet potatoes
If we're going to get 8-10 serves of veggies in every day, we need whatever help we can get, so this sweet potato and zucchini healthy strata bake helps you start the day with veggies!
Check out the new video for this recipe!
Sweet potato and zucchini healthy strata bake
Ingredients
- 500 grams sweet potato peeled and thinly sliced
- one zucchini thinly sliced
- ½ cup frozen corn
- ½ cup frozen peas
- 8 eggs lightly beaten
- ½ cup cream
- 1 cup grated tasty cheese
- 1 tsp fresh thyme
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 / 355F degrees.
- Thinly slice the sweet potato. Steam, boil or even bake until just tender- you want it bendy- not smushy!
- In the base of a 20cm square cake tin, place a thin layer of the sweet potato followed by ¼ cup frozen peas and ¼ cup frozen corn.
- Top with a layer of zucchini.
- Repeat.
- Mix the eggs with the cream and ½ cup of the cheese in a jug.
- Pour over the veggies in the cake tin.
- Top with ½ cup cheese and the thyme.
- Bake at 180/355F degrees for 25-30 minutes or until golden and set. Cool for 5 minutes before serving.
- You can freeze in slices. And defrost overnight in the fridge before putting in the lunchbox.
Jenny N says
When my husband tried this, he said "Can I have vegetables like this all the time?" I love that it's loaded with vegetables but doesn't taste as healthy as it is. I made it according to the instructions but like another commenter mentioned, I found that it was not cooked at the end of the cooking time - I left it in 30 minutes, then took it out to cool and realized it was underdone, then put it back in at 375 F for another 30 minutes and then it was cooked through.
Next time I'll start at 375 and cook it for longer, but I'll have to experiment to figure out how long - when it was actually cooked through, it puffed up and the edges (visible because the pan was glass) began to brown. I will also scatter cheese throughout the layers as someone else suggested, because most of it stayed at the top, and add at least 1/2 tsp salt.
If anyone else is unsure how long to cook the sweet potatoes - I boiled them for 5 minutes and that seemed to be just right.