Tag Archives: brunch

Dairy-Free Bacon and Kale Crustless Quiche

No cheese? No cream or milk? Believe it, because it works: welcome to the dairy-free (and gluten-free) quiche.

This is the perfect quiche to bring to a group event where there may be people with special dietary needs. My friend Sarah (a fabulous cook, by the way) brought this to our women’s ministry brunch a number of months ago, and it’s really delicious. While there’s no cheese, the bacon adds the richness that could have been lost when the cheese got the boot. Plus, as my husband said after eating two generous slices of this, it doesn’t give you the feeling of “I never want to eat again” that a really rich quiche can produce after one hefty serving. Know that feeling? Not the best sensation. In fact, after 3 slices of this quiche for dinner, I was feeling great, light on my feet, and my stomach was a happy place.

The flavor of the coconut milk is definitely present, and while I loved it, my husband was a little wigged out by it. So if you’re one to be wigged out by coconut milk, this may not be the dish for you. But if you’re lactose intolerant, this is such a great alternative to traditional quiche–and I’ll be making it again even though I’m all about the lactose and the gluten. Because it’s tasty, man.

Adapted from this recipe, let’s make it this morning, eh? Eh.

Ingredients

(Serves 4)

5 eggs
1-15 oz can coconut milk
5 pieces of bacon
1 onion, diced
1/2 bunch of kale or spinach
1/4 cup white wine
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. 

Warm the eggs and coconut milk until they reach room temperature (you can sit them in a warm water bath for 15 minutes to accomplish this).

Dice the bacon and fry it in a large skillet over medium high heat.

While the bacon fries, dice the onion . . .

. . . and chop up the kale or spinach.

Today, it’s kale all the way.

When the bacon is close to being crispy, drain most of the bacon fat out of the skillet . . .

. . . and add the onion.

Fry for 8 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion is starting to brown.

Add the kale or spinach . . .

. . . and sauté for about 2 minutes, or until wilted.

Add the wine, and continue to cook until the liquid evaporates (another 3-4 minutes).

Sooooo good.

Let the bacon and veggies cool down for about 15 minutes (you can spread them out on a plate to speed up this step).

I may have taken a few bites of this and promised myself that I would soon make a bacon/onion/kale sauté that I could simply eat piled over white rice. I recommend that you do the same.

Beat the eggs and coconut milk in a large bowl . . .

(bowl pictured not large enough = transfer to a different bowl)

. . . adding salt and pepper (about ¼ tsp of salt).

Whisk the bacon and veggies into the eggs until they are well suspended in the egg mixture. Grease an 8×8 glass dish or a pie pan with coconut oil or cooking spray, and pour in the egg mixture.

Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until the center has solidified.

Remove the quiche from the oven and let it sit for about 15 minutes so that the eggs set.

Dig in!

Oh my word. How I love this quiche. How I love the kale within . . .

. . . and the bacon within.

 It’s a winner!

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Healthy Mushroom and Shallot Quiche

Recovering from vacation . . . it’s painful. So I plan on telling you all about Alaska, but that day is not today. Today, I will drown my sorrows in food. Specifically, some good food.

My lovely friend Cassia has a lovely food blog. Granted, she hasn’t had much time recently to post since she’s entering her second year of graduate school and is up to her ears in books and papers and such, but that doesn’t stop me from gleaning delicious recipes from over yonder, such as this pasta, and now–this quiche.

Cassia made this quiche for our friend Jess Strickler’s baby shower last year. I remember thinking “Oh man! I’ve got to make this!” Then, a year went by. And here we are today, resurrecting the dreams of yesterday.

As you may have guessed by the title, this is not a cheesy, rich quiche (click here for that experience). It only has 4 eggs, a splash of milk, and no cheese. Hence the “healthy.” The real whammy from my perspective is: no half and half. No heavy cream. Let’s get this healthified fungi fest on the road!

Ingredients

(Serves 5)

2 TBS butter
1 1/2 lbs sliced mushrooms
6 cloves garlic
4 shallots
3 green onions
1 1/2 TBS fresh oregano leaves
2 tsp basil
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp dry mustard
4 eggs
3/4 cup 2% or whole milk
1 unbaked 9 inch frozen pie crust

Preheat the oven to 425 F. Pop in the frozen pie crust for 10 minutes.

When you remove it, it should be nice and golden all over.

Lower the temperature to 375 F.

Dice the shallots and garlic . . .

. . . slice the mushrooms (if they don’t come pre-sliced like mine), and chop up those green onions, for gosh’s sake!

Sorry, I had some bossiness urges that I had to get out there. If not, they fester and I become BossMan McMonsterPants. And I guarantee that’s not what my husband is looking for when he comes home after a long day on campus.

Melt the butter in a large skillet. When melted, add the mushrooms, garlic, shallots, green onions, and all the spices and seasonings.

I added the green onions a little later because I like ’em a little on the crispier side.

Don’t you love fresh oregano? This isn’t the first time that mushrooms and oregano have got together in my kitchen and shown the world they were meant for each other.

Cook over medium high to high heat, stirring occasionally, until all the mushroom liquid has evaporated.

Remove the mushrooms from the heat and let them cool completely. I was kind of in a hurry due to the rumblings of certain stomachs in the household, so I sped things up by Extending My Long Arm of Justice and placing the mushrooms in the freezer.

Break the eggs into a bowl and add the milk.

I’m sorry, heavy whipping cream. I’m sorry I abandoned you!

Whisk together the eggs and milk.

Once the mushrooms are cool, add them to the eggs.

 Stir to combine . . .

. . . then pour the mixture into the pie crust.

Beat yourself over the head because the innards don’t fit in the outtards.

Then stop beating yourself when you realize you can bake the remaining filling in an adorable red ramekin. Phew.

Bake the quiche for 40 minutes, or until puffy and starting to brown on top. Here’s the red ramekin-full, which I took out after about 30 minutes:

Let it sit for about 5 minutes before serving–this will allow it to set inside.

She’s a beaut, alright.

Serve with fresh oregano leaves sprinkled over top.

Next time I need to buy a bigger pie crust, because this one ended up simply too full–and I like a higher ratio of crust-to-innards.

See? Totally overstuffed.

But still delicious.

P.S. When we ate the leftovers the following night, the quiche was even better. This may be because I sprinkled all kinds of fresh Parmesan over the top before popping it in the oven to get hot.

“Healthy-schmealthy,” said my taste buds. Whoops. I think they learned that from me.

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