Saturday, April 30, 2011

Asparagus and Mushroom Quiche with a Brown Rice Crust

I am a fond subscriber to Susan's blog:   http://blog.fatfreevegan.com as well as her website: http://fatfreevegan.com.

I prepared this quiche and I love it so much that I had to share it with you.  It's so flavorful that it's become a new favorite of mine.  I hope you'll give it a try and enjoy it as much as I did.

The only change I made to Susan's recipe was to add some red pepper flakes and since I didn't have shallots, I used a small amount of onion.  I have enough ingredients left over and may make this again when  I finish it up.  It's quite addicting!  :)

I cooked some brown rice the night before and refrigerated it for the next days use. That way you don't have to wait 45 minutes for the rice to cook before you can begin.   I prepared a cup dry which makes enough for two recipes.

I found some nice asparagus at Albertson's.  As you look for yours, you'll want to pass over the thin spears -  you don't want the really thick ones either.  Here's a picture of the size I bought so you'll know what to look for.

As you follow the cooking directions, less liquid is better as you saute the veggies.  The amount of water seems like such a small amount, but it really is plenty.  Once the vegetables begin to cook, they'll give off some liquid of their own as well.

As I was waiting for the veggies to cook, I was imagining what other vegetables I could use in the recipe.  Funny how one's mind wanders like that.  :) Spinach would be good and so would chopped kale.  I love to get plenty of greens in my dishes.  Broccoli would be another good choice, or carrots and peas...........the list is endless really.  If you use your favorites, you'll be making this dish many times over.

When I mixed the sauce and vegetables together, I added it to the pan instead of the baking dish as the recipe recommends.  I felt I could get a better blending that way and also keep the dish I'm cooking the quiche in from having some of the sauce sloshed all over the sides. You can do it the way she suggests, I'm just mentioning it because I found it to be easier this way. 

Click on the link above (the name of the recipe) and it will take you to Susan's recipe and her beautiful photos of this wonderful delicious creation.  While you're there, take some time to check out some of her other recipes.  I've tried many and have been happy with most of them.   I'm thinking I'll probably be posting more of her recipes from her blog here.  They will be ones that I've already tried and I'll show pictures of the recipe like I did with this one.

The cut portion serves well without sticking. I have a very small, metal spatula with a beveled edge that I used and it worked perfect.  I did use her recommendation to spray the pie dish with oil. 

The quiche serves four, but I cut it into thirds because I wanted more. :)  This is the type of recipe that is great for breakfast. lunch or supper.
Hope you enjoy!

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

An Easy Throw Together Meal

I had a few vegetables in the crisper, but not the right ones for the recipe I wanted to make.  So I decided to take what I had and come up with a simple throw-together meal.
I normally take pictures as I go along and also take one with the recipe plated.  I didn't really think that this would amount to much, but it actually was quite tasty. 

A friend of mine who is a SAD eater was not feeling well, so I went to visit with her for an hour and decided to bring her some of my stir fry.  I really didn't think she'd like it, but she did.  I was pretty surprised and she didn't add any salt like I thought she would.  So the reason I'm posting this is because of my friend who raved about this recipe.  I thought if she liked it maybe some of you would who are use to eating nutritarianly.   :)

Steamed Cabbage and Simple Vegetable Stir Fry


1/2 small green cabbage, cut into wedges

1 large onion, sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 large red bell pepper, sliced

8 oz white button mushrooms, sliced

1 cup frozen peas

1 15 oz. can drained and rinsed kidney beans (or beans of your choice)

No-sodium spike

Chili powder

Water for sauteing

Steam cabbage low heat while cooking stir fry. Watch it for desired doneness. I like mine a little al'dente. I like my veggies in the stir fry a little crunchy too so if you like your veggies cooked well, you'll need to stirfry a little longer than I did.  When cabbage is done, remove from heat and leave in pan until stirfry is finished to keep warm.  Sprinkle chili powder and spike seasoning to taste.

Water saute onion slices and allow to caramelize. Add garlic and saute for 1-2 minutes. Add red bell pepper and mushrooms and stir fry 1-2 more minutes. Add a small amounts of water as needed. Add peas and kidney beans. Stir to allow peas to thaw. Upon serving, sprinkle with chili powder and spike seasoning to taste. Simple and delicious!