Vegetable Quiche

I made this for a little New Year's/Three King's Day get-together with Iris and Johanna this week. Johanna made cheese fondue and arugula salad, and Iris brought the bread, dips and mango salsa. Most quiche recipes consist of several steps, starting with making and then blind-baking the crust, then adding the filling, and baking again. I didn't have time for that, and I also prefer a softer, not crunchy, bottom, so I combined several recipes based on Impossible Quiche. Most recipes for Impossible Quiche use Bisquick, but I didn't have that in the house, so I made substitutions and it worked out fine. I didn't remember to take a photo but I'm making this again soon and will try to remember to take a picture to add!

Vegetable Ingredients:
1 finely chopped small onion (½ medium)
1 small leek, white and green parts (sliced lengthwise to wash then cut into thin half-rings)
½ container mushrooms, sliced (or chopped depending on how much you have to hide them!)
black pepper
1 tbsp fresh or 1 tsp dried parsley
1 tbsp fresh or 1 tsp fresh or dried basil
½ cup frozen spinach
chives from the garden (optional)
¼ cup grated cheese (any kind you like, I used mozzarella) or more if you want it very cheesy
sliced tomatoes for the top (optional)

Wet Ingredients:
1 ½ cups milk
½ cup flour
3 large eggs
1 tsp baking powder
salt

Preheat oven 350 degrees F

Sauté onion, leek and mushrooms in olive oil with a little salt until wilted and slightly browned. Add black pepper, parsley and basil.  Add frozen spinach and stir until softened and heated through. Take off heat and set aside. 

In blender, combine milk, flour, eggs, baking powder and a little salt and blend on low for 1 minute. 

Butter a baking dish (I used an 8 inch square aluminum pan). Transfer vegetable mixture to baking dish. Sprinkle half the grated cheese over. Carefully pour milk and egg mixture over it. Lay thinly sliced tomatoes and the rest of the grated cheese. 

Bake 35-45 mins in the lower to middle part of the oven until golden and a little puffy. Check it after 35 mins, test it with a toothpick (should come out mostly dry). Cool slightly before cutting and serving so it sets up.

Ella's Favorite Things Rice Krispy Treats

Just your basic Rice Krispie Treats covered with caramel and white chocolate.

Makes about 20 squares (cut 4 x 5). To double the recipe, make it in 2 batches unless you have very large bowls! I found the ingredients at Target.

1 bag (10.5) marshmallows
½ stick (4 Tbsp) butter
1 tsp vanilla (optional)
½ box (6 cups) puffed rice cereal
1 bag Kraft caramel bits (11 oz bag), more convenient than the individually wrapped soft caramels
2 Tbsp milk
1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Line a 13 x 9 pan with plastic wrap or wax paper, leaving some draped over the ends to help lift out afterwards (smaller pan makes taller squares).

In a medium pan, melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows, stir occasionally until they are melted and mixed in. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla (optional). In a large mixing bowl, mix together cereal and marshmallow goo, until well coated.

Turn cereal into pan and press down carefully with some wax paper or buttered spatula.  When cooled and set, melt caramel bits in microwave with the milk, for 2 minutes in 30 second increments, stirring in between. Pour over cereal.

Melt white chocolate chips in microwave or over double boiler, be careful not to cook too long. To make it easier to drizzle, add a little vegetable or coconut oil to the chips before melting. Drizzle over  caramel in diagonal lines, cool in fridge to set up. Cut into squares.

Felix's Lasagna

Felix couldn't get enough of this, had it for dinner last night, and more for lunch and dinner today. Don't tell him, but it has a lot of veggies in it! Use a deep lasagna pan if you can.

2 medium onions
2 medium carrots
2 medium zucchini
(Optional: 1-2 cups frozen chopped spinach; I forgot to add it this time and the pan wasn't big enough anyway)
8 fat garlic cloves
1 large can (28 oz/794g) chopped tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
2-3 Tbsp vegetable bouillon powder or 2 cubes
1 Tbsp dried basil
Fresh rosemary, a few leaves
1 package Yves ground round (vegetarian ground beef)
2 cups non fat cottage cheese
1 8-oz package soy mozzarella, grated
1 or 2 eggs
Grated Parmesan (the stuff in the green container is fine, or the "real" stuff if that abhors you)

PREP:
In Cuisinart fine-chop 1 onion, Sauté with 1 Tbsp olive oil, add 2 of the garlic cloves, pressed.
Add tomato paste & 1 Tbsp vegetable bouillon/1 cube.
In Cuisinart blend tomatoes, add to pan. Lid & simmer.

In Cuisinart fine-chop second onion with rosemary. Sauté with 2 Tbsp olive oil in Dutch oven, add the 6 garlic cloves, pressed.
In Cuisinart grate carrots & zucchini, add to onions. Sauté til softened a bit. Add dried basil, rest of vegetable bouillon, ground round, a bit of water for moisture.

In a bowl, combine cottage cheese, egg, 2/3 of the mozzarella and some Parmesan.

Set aside 2 cups of the tomato sauce, add the rest to veggies.

Boil lasagna noodles about 5 mins to soften & speed up baking time.

ASSEMBLE:
In this order: 1 cup tomato sauce, 1 layer of noodles, half of veggie mixture, half of cheese sauce, layer of noodles, other half of veggie mixture, rest of cheese sauce, last layer of noodles, rest of tomato sauce, rest of grated mozzarella and a bit more Parmesan. Bake @ 350 F for about 40 mins.

Red Quinoa and Black Bean Salad

Adapted from Epicurious to what I had available today. Ella ate half of mine and then a plate of her own. She said, "It's the best food you've ever made!" I made it without the banana peppers but will be adding them when I have it for lunch tomorrow.

1 1/2 cups red quinoa
1 1/2 cups cooked black beans, rinsed if canned (1 can)
1 1/2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
1 1/2 cups cooked corn (cut from about 2 large ears)
3/4 cup finely chopped green bell pepper (1 medium)
2 pickled banana peppers, seeded and minced (wear rubber gloves)
finely chopped fresh coriander (ie cilantro which I hate so I used a little fresh basil and fresh parsley instead)


Dressing:
5 tablespoons fresh lime juice, or to taste
1 teaspoon salt
1-2 teaspoons ground cumin, or to taste
1-2 tsp fresh ground coriander seeds
1 tbsp avocado honey
1/3 cup olive oil

Put quinoa with 3 cups water in saucepan. Bring to boil, then turn down heat and simmer 15 mins until all water is absorbed.

While quinoa is cooking, in a small bowl toss beans with vinegar and salt and pepper to taste.

In a large bowl, make dressing: whisk together lime juice, salt, honey, coriander seeds and cumin and add oil in a stream, whisking.

Add beans, corn, bell pepper and herbs and toss well. Add quinoa and toss some more. Salad may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Bring salad to room temperature before serving.

The result:


Adapted from http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Quinoa-and-Black-Bean-Salad-12245#ixzz0wAJMpbFf

Ella's Oatmeal Cookies

Ella saw a film clip during Elmo's World of a girl making oatmeal cookies with her mom. She wrote down the recipe as they made it and then wanted to make them herself. As soon as they were ready, Felix ate two, one after the other. They were delicious!

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar (we use organic evaporated cane juice)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1-1/2 cups quick cooking oats

1. In a medium bowl, cream together butter and both sugars. Beat in egg, then stir in vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in oats. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheet. Roll the dough into 12 walnut sized balls, and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. Flatten each cookie with a large fork dipped in sugar (flattening & sugar optional).
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in preheated oven. You want them to still be a bit soft to the touch, not browned. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. and eat while still warm.

Butterscotch Cream Cheese Dip

1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened (lo-fat ok)

1/4 cup butterscotch ice cream topping

1 tablespoon packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl; mix with wooden spoon until smooth OR combine ingredients in food processor and blend until smooth. Chill. Serve with fresh fruit - Granny Smith apples cut into wedges are particularly delicious.