Tag Archives: vegetarian

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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Roasted Carrots with Feta and Parsley

I used to work for a company called ‘Companion Care,’ which sent me to take care of the elderly in their own homes. This could involve making a meal for them, helping them bathe or use the bathroom, simply sitting and keeping them company, sleeping on a couch next to their bed in case they needed something in the night, and doing moderate cleaning.

And–lest we forget–watching every single episode of The Golden Girls ever to air. Ever. I loved every second of it, and I want to be just like fun-loving Blanche when I grow up.

Minus the philandering part.

Minus the hairstyle . . .

. . . and minus the Southern accent.

So I guess I don’t want to be like Blanche at all.

I will never forget my resolution arising from this stint at Companion Care: I will not become a magazine lady. I remember a particular house in which the piles of magazines were just everywhere. Along with piles of mail of who knows what else–it was overwhelming. And claustrophobic. And gave me the creepy-crawlies all over my flesh.

After being given a subscription to the now-defunct Gourmet magazine by my friend Eve, a subscription to Bon Appétit by my mother, and then getting a free subscription to Martha Stewart Living using airline miles, I have been steadily heading down the path of Magazine Overload. And those creepy-crawlies started to come back.

Firm and unwavering action was needed, so I recently determined to get rid of all of my Martha Stewart issues, which comprised the bulk of my collection. But they couldn’t, of course, go straight to the trash–what if there was the Dish to End All Dishes in one of them and I missed it?? I just couldn’t take that risk. So I’ve been flipping through each magazine and ripping out any particularly inspiring recipes. Though dear Team Martha was involved to a degree in a ravioli disaster, they were also involved in a whomping mushroom success, so I really wanted to ferret out any hidden treasures and bring them to the light. My initial purging project is now 100% complete; my next project will be making all the recipes, blogging about the worthy ones, and then tossing the paper. This may take approximately 1 decade.

But anyway, this is the first recipe I snatched up. It was simple and colorful and, as I suspected, absolutely delicious. And simple. And easy. And colorful. Did I already say that? And low-maintenance. I made a big adjustment to the cooking time and some small adjustments to ingredient amounts, but besides that, it’s quite true to the original.

Ingredients

(Serves 5)

2.5 lbs carrots (9-10 large carrots)
2-3 TBS olive oil
Salt and pepper
3 TBS fresh minced parsley
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese

Wash and cut the carrots on a deep diagonal, about 1 inch thick.

Toss the carrots with the olive oil and generous amounts of salt and pepper on a large sheet pan.

Spread them into a single layer.

Pop ’em in the oven and roast them at 425 F for about 40 minutes (or until caramelized), turning them over at the halfway point.

In the meantime, mince up the parsley:

And measure out the crumbled feta.

When the carrots are done, they will look something like this:

Mmmm. Caramelization is, like, the best, dude.

Put them in a large serving dish and toss them with the parsley and feta.

Beautiful! I love the colors. Love ’em, love ’em, love ’em.

Serve ’em up!

I made some salmon to go with this:

Unfortunately that particular fish recipe wasn’t quite excellent enough to share with you all, but I highly recommend the pairing.

These carrots are a cinch to make, and would be a great dish to make for a large group of people, or for a potluck. Or for yourself, on your arduous journey toward 20-20 vision. Give ’em a try! You’ll love every bite.

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