Crustless Veggie Quiche

As a part of a grant (Good, Cheap & Nutritious) through the Community Foundation of Dickinson County, USD 435 Parents as Teachers families received cookbooks and had the opportunity to participate in five cooking sessions during the last few month. 

For the final session, we prepared veggie quiche, using a recipe from Leanna Brown's cookbook. That recipe is included below with some added notes explaining what we did and a few adjustments we made in the preparation -- they are in red.

Vegetable Quiche, Hold the Crust    Serves 4   From Good and Cheap cookbook by Leanna Brown

Serve it hot or cold. Makes great leftovers and can be serves for breakfast, lunch or even supper.

Serving suggestions: Add a fruit salad for breakfast, a green salad for lunch or supper.

Use your favorite veggies; the author’s favorites include: broccoli, roasted green chilies (with Cheddar), winter squash (with goat cheese), zucchini and tomato, or spinach and olive.

1 tablespoon butter (we used olive oil)

Salt & pepper

1 large onion, sliced into half moons (we diced the onion)

(additional butter for buttering pie pan or pan spray)

3 to 4 cups chopped vegetables -- we used a combination of the following veggies:

     Red peppers, diced ( sautéed in a little olive oil for added flavor)

     Mushrooms (sautéed in a little olive oil to release some of the excess water)

     Finely chopped broccoli, raw

     Diced zucchini, raw 

1 cup cheese (we used Cheddar)

8 eggs

1 cup milk

2 to 3 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped

1 teaspoon salt

Ground black pepper

Seasoning blend, such as Tex Joy

Notes:

·  There are two ways to make this quiche. If you have a cast-iron or other over-proof skillet, you can make the quiche right in the skillet. This cuts down on dishes. Otherwise, start with a regular skillet and later transfer everything to a pie place to bake.

· Vegetable preparation—Steam or cook the following veggies before adding to the quiche in step #5: broccoli, cauliflower, winter squash to insure they’ll be fully cooked. For tomatoes, zucchini, spinach or any other quick-cooking vegetable, just use them fresh.

1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat.
3. Add onion slices and sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper over them. Cook the onions until they are golden brown and start to caramelize.

   

   Onions cooking . . . in the process of becoming caramelized.

   

   Caramelized onions. The flavors intensify as the quantity decreases!

4. If your pan in oven-proof, simply remove it from the heat and spread the onions evenly across the bottom. Otherwise, butter (or spray) a pie plate and scoop the onions into it, creating an even layer on the bottom. The onions add a crust-like texture and a bit of crunch.
5. Spread the vegetables evenly overtop of the onions (see note about vegetable preparation above). The dish or pan should look fairly full. We also added the cup of cheese at this stage rather than mixing it in with the egg-milk mixture as instructed in step #6.

   

   Barry is adding the ingredients in assembly line fashion.  He has one completed and five more to go!

6. In a bowl, use a fork to lightly beat the eggs with the milk, cheese, salt and pepper, parsley, and seasoning blend, just enough to break up the yolks and whites for the savory custard mixture. We mixed the eggs and milk until the eggs were thoroughly incorporated.

   

   I mixed the eggs and then added . . .

   

   . . . the milk, seasonings, including parsley.

7. Pour the custard over the vegetables and onions—it will fill in all the free spaces.
   
8. Bake the quiche in the preheated over for 1 hour. Once the surface is lightly brown all the way across (and the filling in firm vs. jiggly), it’s fully cooked. Most of our quiches went into 10" pie plates and they baked in about 30 to 35 minutes. We also made some individual quiches, using silicon muffin pans -- they took about 20 to 25 minutes to bake.
9. Let the quiche cool for about 20 minutes, then slice into wedges.
   

   

   Brunch is served

     Recipe without photos . . .

Vegetable Quiche, Hold the Crust    Serves 4   From Good and Cheap cookbook by Leanna Brown 

Serve it hot or cold. Makes great leftovers and can be serves for breakfast, lunch or even supper. 

Serving suggestions: Add a fruit salad for breakfast, a green salad for lunch or supper.

Use your favorite veggies; the author’s favorites include: broccoli, roasted green chilies (with Cheddar), winter squash (with goat cheese), zucchini and tomato, or spinach and olive.

1 tablespoon butter (we used olive oil)

Salt & pepper

1 large onion, sliced into half moons (we diced the onion)

(additional butter for buttering pie pan or pan spray)

3 to 4 cups chopped vegetables -- we used a combination of the following veggies:

     Red peppers, diced ( sautéed in  a little olive oil for added flavor)

     Mushrooms (sautéed in a little olive oil to release some of the excess water)

     Finely chopped broccoli, raw

     Diced zucchini, raw 

1 cup cheese (we used Cheddar)

8 eggs

1 cup milk

2 to 3 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped

1 teaspoon salt

Ground black pepper

Seasoning blend, such as Tex Joy

Notes: 

·     There are two ways to make this quiche. If you have a cast-iron or other over-proof skillet, you can make the quiche right in the skillet. This cuts down on dishes. Otherwise, start with a regular skillet and later transfer everything to a pie place to bake.

·    Vegetable preparation—Steam or cook the following veggies before adding to the quiche in step #5: broccoli, cauliflower, winter squash to insure they’ll be fully cooked. For tomatoes, zucchini, spinach or any other quick-cooking vegetable, just use them fresh.

1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat.
3. Add onion slices and sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper over them. Cook the onions until they are golden brown and start to caramelize.
4. If your pan in oven-proof, simply remove it from the heat and spread the onions evenly across the bottom. Otherwise, butter (or spray) a pie plate and scoop the onions into it, creating an even layer on the bottom. The onions add a crust-like texture and a bit of crunch.
5. Spread the vegetables evenly overtop of the onions (see note about vegetable preparation above). The dish or pan should look fairly full. We also added the cup of cheese at this stage rather than mixing it in with the egg-milk mixture as instructed in step #6.
6. In a bowl, use a fork to lightly beat the eggs with the milk, cheese, salt and pepper,  parsley, and seasoning blend, just enough to break up the yolks and whites for the savory custard mixture. We mixed the eggs and milk until the eggs were thoroughly incorporated.
7. Pour the custard over the vegetables and onions—it will fill in all the free spaces.
8. Bake the quiche in the preheated over for 1 hour. Once the surface is lightly brown all the way across (and the filling in firm vs. jiggly), it’s fully cooked. Most of our quiches went into 10" pie plates and they baked in about 30 to 35 minutes. We also made some individual quiches, using silicon muffin pans -- they took about 20 to 25 minutes to bake.
9. Let the quiche cool for about 20 minutes, then slice into wedges.