Frittata's Friend (or Foe?)

Mandi and I spent about a year of our lives as vegetarians. I think I can speak for both of us when I say that we really enjoyed that year and almost never missed the meat that had once been in our diets. During this time, however, the one meat craving that I would experience on a regular basis was one for pepperoni. Steak was no temptation at all, I only missed chicken's convenience when it came to restaurant-food-ordering, and pork had never been my meat-of-choice anyway. Pepperoni pizza, however, threatened my vegetarian commitment on numerous occasions and was probably one of the first meaty foods I indulged in when I decided to return to the world of carnivores.

So, it didn't surprise me when I read through the vegetarian frittata recipe from my favorite vegetarian cookbook and I thought to myself, "Wow. This would probably be really great with a little pepperoni thrown into the mix!" And while it didn't surprise me, it did make me feel a twinge of guilt. How could I desecrate the vegetarian-ness of a recipe from a cookbook that had provided me with so many fabulous meat-less options over the years? But, apparently, that guilt wasn't strong enough to pull me away from the lure of processed, seasoned deli meats. In the end, I chose genoa rather than pepperoni as an extra frittata filling, but it was the mere thought of pepperoni that had started my frittata's downward spiral into meat-dom. Still, despite its initial presence as the black sheep of the frittata, Genoa got along quite nicely with his more mild-mannered vegetable companions: Potato, Roasted red pepper, and Spinach. So, laying aside my guilt, I must admit that the frittata turned out to be delicious. So delicious, in fact, that I may not ever feel the need to make a vegetarian version (insert gasp). I may be just about the lousiest ex-vegetarian ever.