Eggs for breakfast? Did you know their color will tell you a LOT about how they were raised. When I was a kid I was amazed at the gorgeous yellow color of egg yolks in Italy and didn't know why we could not find anything that looked and tasted like them here. Diet is why. The hen's diet!
Eggs from hens with a healthy diet look a lot different than those from factory-raised chickens.
The color of an egg's yolk is like a crystal ball. It gives us all the details on what a hen has been fed and the kind of life it has led. Just like in humans, dark leafy greens and lots of vitamin D lead to great skin tone, healthy bones and circulation. The same is true for the hen. Hens with a good diet will have nice full feathers, be active and produce eggs with a beautiful dark yellow yolk.
Darker Orange Egg Yolk = Healthy Pasture-Raised or Forage Fed Hens
The best kind of eggs to use are the ones with dark orange yolks. That dark yolk tells us that the hen had a balance diet full of greens and spent time outdoors - think free-range. This kind of an egg has excellent nutritional value.
Light Orange Yolk = Better Chicken Feed
Eggs with light orange yolks most likely come from chickens without as much access to the outdoors (or even no access at all). These chickens eat mostly grain (don't be fooled by the "vegetarian-fed" marketing deceit on the carton). Most likely, these chickens have not spent much time outdoors, haven't had much active Vitamin D time, don't move a lot and eat mostly meal or grain. Again, marketing at play here. Just because it says cage-free, doesn't mean the chickens had a good life. It just means they were all in a giant barn together with not much room to roam - likely they were so close they couldn't move.
This is my fave frittata recipe - we make it in Green Apron all the time!
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup onion, diced
4 cups arugula
2 garlic cloves, minced
1.5 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup green and red peppers, chopped
10 eggs, whisked
2/3 cup organic milk
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella
1/4 cup Parmesan
1 cup fresh basil
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together the eggs, milk, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and mozzarella cheese. Set aside.
Heat the olive oil over medium high heat in a large skillet. Add the onion and cook for 5-7 minutes until beginning to become translucent. Add the arugula and garlic and cook for 1 minute until fragrant. Stir in the tomatoes and roasted red peppers.
Pour the eggs in the pan and cook until edges start to pull away from the pan, usually in about 4-6 minutes. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top.
Place the entire skillet in the oven and bake for 14-16 minutes until eggs are set. Serve with a sprinkling of fresh basil.