Now going on almost six years ago, after a severe case of food poisoning, I decided to go Vegetarian. Yep, you guessed it. I got extremely ill from eating meat. It wasn't the first time, but it certainly was going to be the last! My family didn't take me seriously at the time, thinking I'd go back to eating steak in a few weeks but I stuck to my word and began researching healthy meat free recipes. I can think of all the people throughout the years that said "You don't eat meat? What do you eat?!" My simple reply, "Anything but!" with a big grin on my face.
People appeared "uncomfortable" for quite awhile, and actually seemed to be in a state of panic, especially at big holiday dinners, not knowing what to feed me. I'm still bewildered at their apparent state of extreme anxiety about my diet. There were even instances where I wasn't invited because they had no clue "what I could eat!" Seems a bit extreme, at the very least. I am SO delighted Vegetarianism is slowly becoming more popular. It really is a healthy way of life!
I digress. Why am I telling you all this? I'm now going to introduce the dish that soon entered royalty among my friends and family, especially at big dinners. Not only did I start getting a lot of invitations to dinner parties but this became the featured dish people desired to see on the table. My younger daughter even requested we skip her birthday cake and just make this because she loved it so much! What is this marvelous mystery dish delivered in a pan? I introduce you to the fluffiest, tastiest egg dish you'll ever want to let pass your lips that donned me the "Queen of the Quiches".
Quiche?! Are you serious? ABSOLUTELY! Not so many years ago you wouldn't catch a man touching that sissy stuff. Well, thankfully times have changed. Another question you may be asking is, "Wait, I thought you said you can't eat eggs anymore?!" Well, that's true BUT, I had so many people requesting my recipe and this IS a food blog, so I figured, why not? I don't want to hide a treasure like this. So, here's my famous quiche recipe, pre-realization of Gluten and egg allergies. I hope it becomes a family favorite for your clan also.
*Note: Watch for a posting of my Gluten and egg free Quiche in the very near future, for my allergy sisters and brothers. I want to perfect it first :)
Catherine's Famous Quiche
Ingredients
* 4 extra large eggs, lightly beaten (5 Large)
* 1 1/2 cups heavy cream (half and half works great too)
* Salt and pepper
* 2 cups chopped fresh Spinach
* 1 cup sliced mushrooms (I'm generous on the mushrooms personally)
* 1/2 of a small onion, diced
* 1 1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
* 1 (9-inch) refrigerated pie crust, fitted to a 9-inch glass pie plate
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Combine the eggs, cream, salt, and pepper in a food processor or blender until it just looks "bubbly", so you get a light fluffy quiche. Be careful not to over blend or the protein in the eggs will cause them to become hard. Layer the cheese, spinach, onion and mushrooms in the bottom of the pie crust, then pour the egg mixture on top. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes until the egg mixture is set. Test with toothpick. Let cool for a few minutes and cut into 8 wedges. Enjoy!
Substitutions and tricks
You'll also notice I use stoneware. I think quiche comes out much more moist and fluffy in a stoneware pan. The cooking times may change compared to cooking in glass, so monitor your delicious dish. Also, with stoneware, it stays hot longer, so it will continue to cook a little while after removal from the oven. Allow for this extra cooking and take it out before it gets too done.
Frozen vegetables work great also! Fresh veggies are sometimes hard to come by at times and have a short shelf life, whereas frozen is always nutritious (flash frozen right after picking), are a good back up, handy and simple to use.
Quiche is a wonderful way to step out of the ordinary meal and really wow your family with a delicious Vegetarian alternative. Quiche is really great to warm up the next morning for breakfast and freezes well too. Now go out and get some eggs, cream and veggies. You're going to love adding this to your library of recipes and seeing the smiles on your family, while you learn how
to eat to live, one bite at a time.
Cheers
~Catherine
It looks yummy, though I'll have to wait for your GF version and figure out a half and half substitute before considering trying it myself. Thank you for sharing. :)
ReplyDeleteI used to get the same kind of reactions when I told people I was vegetarian. Try going to Hawaii or Guam as a vegetarian and see what kind of reactions you get! I spent 3 weeks primarily living off fresh fruit. People used to question me about it all the time and wonder what I ate. It's pretty much the same now except replace "vegetarian" with "lots of allergies." I look forward to your next post!