Adaptable Quiche

I adore quiche.  I think this might be related to growing up in a home where we rarely ate egg or cheese dishes.   This fact, in turn,  probably contributes to my mildly guilty feeling that I'm eating enough cholesterol for a small country with each tasty bite. 

So, in a strategy worthy of my mother (gasp), I've tried to make it healthier.  What results may not actually be quiche, but I like it and it makes for easy lunches.  One of my weaknesses in cooking is that I forget to measure things, but I believe I'm pretty close here.

The beauty of this "recipe" and quiche in general is that you can experiment with various vegetables, depending on what's in season or available in your freezer.  I love flavors of the Mediterranean so I incorporated some of them in this version below. 

1 pkg of extra firm tofu, well drained
3/4 c. shredded parmesan-mozzarella cheese blend (I would have liked to include some feta, but didn't have it on hand.)

3 eggs8 oz of frozen cut leaf spinach (thawed)
The leaves of 4-5 stems of fresh oregano
1 medium sweet onion chopped
2 Tbsp sumac
1 tsp salt (more to taste)
black pepper to taste

GF crust. (I used the pie crust recipe from Bob's Red Mill Biscuit and Baking Mix to great success.)

Preheat your oven 425 degrees.

First, prepare your crust. Instead of rolling it out per the directions on the label, I simply pressed it into my 11-inch pie plate. 

Then I made the filling.  In a medium mixing bowl, I crumbled the block of tofu into small pieces.  You can use a fork, I often use my hands so I make sure not to leave large chunks.

Stir in remaining ingredients until well mixed.  Pour into crust and even out the top. 

Bake for 45 minutes.  I usually check after 30 minutes to see how the crust is browning.  If it is already darkening, I turn down the oven about 25 degrees and keep an eye on it.  After 45 minutes, insert a knife into the center of the quiche.  If it comes out clean, the quiche is finished.  If not, check again every 5-10 minutes (very rough estimate). 

I will often lower the oven temperature if my quiche is getting to dark.  The important thing is the knife test at the end, showing that the eggs are cooked thoroughly. 

Serves 8-10

Note: Another version I like to make includes replacing the spinach with zucchini, summer squash and red bell peppers cut into short, thin strips.  I replace the oregano with basil leaves (cut it into smaller pieces), leave out the sumac and add a scant Tablespoon of lemon zest.

Melt in your mouth apple pie

So the perfect pie crust is always up for debate, but upon learning that a gluten-free diet was going to become the norm from now on, I needed to find a pie crust recipe. Pie is such a big part of my family's holidays that I got on the search early. And failed many times before finding this recipe. This is sure to be a new favorite for all pie lovers and I like to make mine a little different each time. Sometimes I use a few squeezes of honey, or a bit of jam, or sometimes I throw in a few different kinds of fruit together. Start on the crust a few hours earlier than you will actually need it as you will be putting it in the fridge for a few hours. This is a recipe I borrowed from the book "Gluten-Free Girl", but I made a few changes.

Gluten-Free Pie Crust:

1 1/2 cup of sorghum flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
3 TBS of Rice flour
1/4 ts salt
pinch of sugar
1 cup of Crisco or butter if you like (try freezing the butter and grating it into the mix)
1 egg
2 tsp of Apple Cider Vinegar
1/4 cup of cold water

Combine all of the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Cut the Crisco into the dry ingredients. Add in all of wet ingredients and knead and mold. If the dough feels too wet, add in some teff flour until it can hold it's shape and be molded into a ball. Refrigerate for a few hours.


Apple pie filling:

Peel and cut enough apples to fit into your pie dish. Add a couple handfuls of blueberries or raspberries. Add 3/4 cup of sugar, a few drizzles of honey, or a couple of tablespoons of jam and mix well. Add in 2-3 TBS of tapioca and stir. Fill your pie and cover with crust. Decorate the top however you like, I like to cut 4 or 5 slits around the center.

Bake for 15 minutes on 425
Bake for 30 minutes on 350 (cover with foil if you are worried about it browning too much on the edges).


Enjoy the art of pie making and your friends will be asking you for the recipe, even if they aren't gluten free!

-jamielynn

Starting Off With Something Sweet

When I first accepted that I needed to stop eating wheat, I made a discovery: Grocery stores often place their bakery near the entrance.  To get to the produce, I had to pass the scents of the freshly-baked Tuscan rosemary bread I loved so much. See the apple fritters, calling to me with their fruity deep-fried flour-filled goodness.  Past the blueberry bagels, made steaming-fresh as only New Yorkers can. Long loaves of french bread, opening my mind to the fantasy of smearing fresh garlic-butter and crushed basil across its pillow-y surface and toasting perfectly.  It's not hard to see how I would be healthier giving up baked goods.

But I refused.  Pre-made loaves of bread in my freezer's section usually had all the tempting appeal of a Styrofoam block.  Brownie mixes crumbled and crusted onto my pans.  Pizza crusts baked out with the consistency of Jell-O.  I was about to give up.

Then my mother saved the day. She used a staple from my childhood to make brownies: Black bean brownies.  I've had black bean brownies before that tasted more appropriate with cheese and salsa than chocolate chips, but not these.  People don't know their secret ingredient until I tell them.

Unfortunately, I don't know where she got the recipe so I cannot give the appropriate credit. As always, be sure you use gluten-free ingredients.

Black Bean Brownies

• 1 (15.5 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 3 eggs
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 Tablespoon of corn starch
• 1 Tablespoon of ground flax seed (optional)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon instant coffee (optional)
• 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease an 8x8 square baking dish.

2. Combine all ingredients (except chocolate chips)in a blender; blend until smooth; pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle chocolate chips over the top of the mixture. 

3. Bake in the preheated oven until the top is dry and the edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 30 minutes.