High Protein Pastrami & Swiss Frittata

“When rats were fed a diet completely lacking tryptophan for a short period, or a diet containing only one fourth of the “normal” amount for a more prolonged period, the results were surprising: They kept the ability to reproduce up to the age of 36 months (versus 17 months for the rats on the usual diet), and both their average longevity and their maximum longevity increased significantly. They looked and acted like younger rats. (A methionine-poor diet also has dramatic longevity-increasing effects.)” -Ray Peat

Getting a good amount of protein in the first half of my day isn’t really the challenge that was it use to be, but getting “balanced” protein with a gelatin source still is. I usually ditch the egg whites and limit my meat intake to keep the tryptophan and methionine low in my diet, but yesterday I put my mind to expanding my meal choices by cooking dishes, besides liquids, with collagen powder and gelatin. I was really pleased with how this frittata turned out.

I have been using cottage cheese more nowadays, ever since learning about an effective and easy way to remove the tangy lactic acid. I put my carton of cottage cheese in a coffee filter set inside a sieve which I set over a bowl to catch the liquid. I cover it and let it drain for a couple of days. This is the cottage cheese I used for this frittata. It made the frittata set up more like a quiche filling without a lot of liquid separating out it. The cottage cheese is low in fat and is so high in protein with the cup that I used having 28 grams of it. Cream in a quiche adds none. Other frittatas I have made in the past have had a little bouncy texture rather than tender like this.

To start this preheat the oven to 350-degrees. Lightly butter the bottom and sides of a small deep glass dish. I used a 4-inch by 2-inch deep dish. In a small saucepan melt in a couple teaspoons of butter. Add in chopped onion, however much you like and some chopped sliced pastrami. I used an uncured no antibiotic beef pastrami, 4-ounces worth. Sauté just a couple of minutes and put the mixture in the bottom of the buttered glass dish.

Chop up or grate 3-ounces of Swiss cheese. I use a grass-fed milk made one. In a separate bowl crack in 3 large eggs and whisk them up adding in one cup of the strained cottage cheese, 2 tablespoons of collagen powder (I use Great Lakes), 1 teaspoon of mustard and about a teaspoon of salt. Pour the mixture over the pastrami onion mixture. Top with the Swiss cheese and a couple tablespoons of sauerkraut. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes. Let this cool down for 15 minutes or so.

This little frittata has 85 grams of protein for only 45 grams of fat. It is enough for one big strong man or two of me. It was good cooled down yesterday, but it was even better the next day! I can’t wait to make other versions of this!

“Protein deficiency creates an inflammatory state, and since stress causes tissue proteins to be destroyed and converted into sugars and fats, it’s common to underestimate the amount of protein needed. One of the functions of sucrose in the diet is to reduce the production of cortisol, and so to spare protein.” -Ray Peat