Quick Quiche

This recipe is a great way to use a leftover portion of green vegetables from a previous meal. You know that one generous scoop of asparagus or broccoli or spinach that didn't get eaten but you don't want to throw out? Make it into a delicious weekend breakfast.

INGREDIENTS:

About half a cup of chopped vegetables. I used some cooked leftover broccoli and a chopped half an onion.
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks**
1/2 Cups half and half (or equivalent mixture of milk and cream)
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
pinch fresh grated nutmeg (optional)
1 9- inch par baked pie shell (warm), baked until light golden brown. I used a frozen Pillsbury deep dish pie shell, thawed 15 minutes and then baked for about 10. Don't forget to prick the crust all over with a fork.
About of 1/4 C of mixed cheeses. I used swiss and mozzarella and they were great!

INSTRUCTIONS:

The center of the quiche will be soft and slightly jiggly when it comes out of the oven, but the filling will continue to firm up and even sink a little as it cools.

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Chop leftover green veggies and set aside. Dice half an onion and then cook in a pan with a drizzle of olive oil and a small pat of butter. Cook until onions are fragrant and translucent, about 5 minutes. I use a pinch of salt to help the onions break down in the pan. Next whisk all remaining ingredients (except cheese!) in a medium sized bowl.

2. Spread cheeses evenly over bottom of warm pie shell. Place vegetables on top of cheese. If you're smart you will put the quiche on the oven rack at this point and then pour the egg/half and half mixture into it from a measuring cup. If you're not so smart (like me) you have to carefully transfer a very full pie plate to the hot oven rack and hope for the best. Bake until lightly golden brown and the center looks like a soft jelly, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer quiche to rack to cool about 15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

So, estimating, 10 minutes veggie prep and 10 minutes to bake the pie shell and 35 minutes to bake the quiche and then 15 minutes to cool, what's so quick about this recipe?

It's all in how you plan and stage it! Bake the pie shell while you are prepping the veggies and filling. Pull the pie shell out and fill it according to instructions. While your quiche is cooking, DON'T LEAVE THE KITCHEN! Stay there and unload and reload the dishwasher, clear the table. Put away all the ingredients from making breakfast. When the quiche cools, set the table with real plates and cups. Sit down with your family or your own awesome self and enjoy a real tasty breakfast and bask in your own glory.

**Easiest way to separate eggs from yolks? Crack the egg. Pour the egg into your own cupped palm. The whites will spill through your fingers into a waiting bowl, put the yolks in with your half and half and whole eggs. Egg whites can be frozen for later use.

February Lunch Challenge

I am taking my lunch to work every day for the entire month of February. Here's how it's going so far...

February 1st: Oh, crap, forgot I was doing this. What do I have? What do I have? A single tortilla, some leftover Mexican rice, some cheese? Okay. It's a cheese and rice-a-rrito, I also have an avocado and some salsa to throw in my lunch box. At lunchtime, I nuke the rice-a-rrito, top with salsa and cut up and cube half an avocado.

Feburary 2nd: WHY DIDN'T I GO TO THE STORE LAST NIGHT?! Tiny single serving hummus tub, sandwich baggie of tortilla chips, the rest of that avocado, salt from my tears.

February 3rd: Publix is on my way home. WHY do I just drive by? Leftover veggie stir fry rice from dinner, but if I don't hit the grocery store on the way home our next dinner will be saltines and cheese with ketchup.

The stir fry last night was made of limp celery from the back of the hilariously named "crisper" drawer, a semi-soft yellow bell pepper, a handful of drying out baby carrots and an onion that was beginning to sprout. When I opened the pantry to get out the rice a freaking MOTH flew out at me in an accusatory fashion.

Bonus Lunch News: The children's lunches went like this today, 12 year old gets full size PB&J and 7 year old got a single slice of bread sandwich made cut into 2 pieces and made into a half sandwich. Rationing is IN EFFECT. Both of them got some rice crackers I found in the back of a shelf and 2 slices of muenster cheese (I'm out of cheese sticks). 2 loose apple sauce cups (one green apple, one with cinnamon) were tossed in along with "Fruit by the Foot" (AKA lunch candy) to round it out. I told them to eat their emergency graham crackers in their book bags if they got too hungry.