Thursday, January 23, 2014

Love and Quiches

After the not-so-exciting Mu Shu Lettuce Wraps the other night, I was really hoping to discover something that was going to blow my mind. I think I found it!

Veggie Quiche with Spaghetti Squash Crust

Hello, gorgeous!



We eat breakfast for dinner every Sunday night in our house. It can get a little boring for me because I am usually just grabbing a few pieces of turkey bacon and some sort of eggs. I've made them scrambled, over hard, frittata, mixed with various fat-free or low-fat cheese and veggies. Just when I thought I had reached my limit with the eggs, I came across a picture on Pinterest of a quiche with a crust made of spaghetti squash. A star was born!

I typically roast my spaghetti squash, but today I started out by microwaving it. I guess I didn't do it long enough, so I ended up sticking it into the oven for 20 minutes to finish up. After letting it cool and scraping out the insides, I mixed it with salt and pepper and pressed it into a Pyrex pie plate. After making sure it was in evenly, I patted with a a paper towel to get some of the moisture out to try to ensure that the crust wouldn't become watery.

I par-baked the crust at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, and it looked like this:



While it was baking, I sautéed the onion and garlic in olive oil until translucent. Then I added the chopped broccoli. The recipe I saw on Pinterest used asparagus and I am sure you could use just about any kind of veggie you like in this quiche. I cooked until just bright green and tender, then set aside.

In a mixing bowl went the milk, cheese, eggs, salt and pepper. After whisking it was poured into the crust, then the veggie mixture added on top. Make sure to evenly distribute the veggies and press down so they are all set into the egg mixture.



Bump up the temperature to 400 in the oven and bake for 40 minutes until the egg is firm.

I can't say enough good things about this. I had it for dinner last night, and had some cold for breakfast this morning! Here's the recipe….enjoy!!

Veggie Quiche with Spaghetti Squash Crust

1 spaghetti squash, cooked and cooled seasoned with salt and pepper to taste
1/2 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp olive oil
5 eggs
1 cup reduced-fat milk
1 cup fat-free or reduced fat shredded cheese (mozzarella, cheddar, swiss, whatever)
10-13 ounces veggies (asparagus, broccoli, spinach, mushrooms, etc) chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Preheat oven to 400.

Mix spaghetti squash with salt and pepper and press into pie plate sprayed with PAM. Make sure it goes up the sides as well, just like a pie crust. Blot down with paper towel to take away excess moisture. There may be leftover squash, just save it for another meal!

Bake for 20 minutes.

While the crust is baking, heat the olive oil in a pan and sauté the onion and garlic until translucent. Add the other veggies and cook until your preferred doneness. Mix together the eggs, milk, cheese, salt and pepper.

Remove crust from oven, lower the heat to 350.  Pour the egg mixture into the crust. Add the veggie mixture and press down into the egg.  Bake for 40 minutes or until firm.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Do You Mu Shu? I Do!

Too much time has passed since I've posted anything!

The holidays are over, the decorations are (almost) packed away, and the two pounds put on between Christmas and New Year's are long gone. I had no trouble getting back on the wagon come January 1, but experimenting in the kitchen took a backseat to adjusting to the daily grind. I had one epic fail with Quinoa Pizza Bites…and I don't know if they were disgusting because I learned that I hate quinoa or they were disgusting because they just sucked. Either way….BLECH!!!

Before the holidays I had printed out a few interesting recipes I saw on Pinterest, and a few I saw in a magazine.  I renewed my subscription to Cooking Light magazine due to my renewed interest in being healthy, hoping for a few good ideas. There was a recipe for Mu Shu Lettuce Wraps that looked super easy, 17 Day Diet compliant, and it has been sitting around in a pile of papers for the past few weeks calling my name.

Anything that can be put together in 10 minutes or less is great for nights that we have swim team practice! Getting home at 6 and then starting dinner can be taxing, and getting take out more than once a week is just not helpful when I am trying to stay healthy. I figured this would be easy enough to tackle and hopefully something that everyone would like.

It turns out that it was pretty good. Or at least the adults in the house thought so. My son does NOT want me to make this again. I liked it enough but felt it could be even better. I love the idea of it, and there are so many variations on Pinterest that one of them has to be a real winner!

It's worth trying for a quick, healthy dinner. At 193 calories a serving, it's certainly diet-friendly!