love your veggies
Recipe: roasted vegetable quiche
Lunch is a nice word.
Lunch is my favorite meal of the day. Then comes dinner. Then brekkie. Breakfast gets short shrift around here because we like to do things first thing in the morning like ski, hike, ride, or work. I know this is a terrible habit – skipping breakfast. I wish I had the same gusto about breakfast that Kaweah has. But when lunch rolls around, I become quite animated. Lunch can be anything and lunch can pretty much be any time for me. I like work lunches, “let’s try out this new place” lunches, picnic lunches, backpacking lunches, team lunches, lunch dates, happy hour lunches, grazing my way through awesome location lunches, loud Chinese lunches, après ski lunches and most of all… social lunches.
dana applies thai basil to her pho
I had the noodle bowl stir-fry because I’m a noodle girl and because I love the vegetables. I love vegetables in general and often times I will end up with one oddball vegetable here and there on my counter, in the pantry, or in the refrigerator. Or I’ll dig out a bag of greens that have been languishing in some remote corner of the refrigerator in dire need of immediate cooking and consumption. I hate waste. Hate to waste food, especially 1) expensive food and 2) produce.
i found purple kale, peppers, eggplant, potatoes, and an onion
i bought the purple kale a while ago because it was so pretty
Do you impulse shop? I am not what is considered an impulse buyer. I think my purchases through fairly carefully and rarely buy something on emotion or on a whim (that said, don’t ever take me someplace where there are a lot of puppies or kittens). Jeremy loves that I’m so practical. Except that I’m not always practical when it comes to colorful, beautiful produce. It’s that parrot thing I’ve got going. I’ll rush into the store or market to seek out those items on my list only to be stopped dead in my tracks, staring wonderingly at pink, purple, red, and white Easter egg radishes, purple cauliflower, or multi-colored potatoes. Purple really does it to me.
diced eggplant, potato, pepper
tossed with olive oil, salt, and pepper
That’s why I had that bunch of purple kale, because I was mesmerized by the striking lines of purple branching through those dark green leaves. Luckily, I found them before they had shriveled to oblivion. What to do with all of these oddballs – a couple of potatoes, peppers, one eggplant, an onion (actually, I usually have several of those lying about), the kale? Quiche.
sliced onions
semi-caramelized onions, sautéed kale, roasted eggplant, potatoes, and peppers
Any time I make a quiche, it’s hard for me to not include bacon because those two just go together in my mind. Actually, bacon goes with just about anything. This time I didn’t have bacon on hand, and I was okay with that. I wanted to see if this vegetable quiche would live up to my vegetable craving.
toss the vegetables together
toss with gruyère
The reason I roasted and sautéed the vegetables is because we typically have several containers of leftover vegetables in our refrigerator from previous nights’ dinners and they are almost always roasted or sautéed. I just wanted to see if this would jive with our little leftover farm because it’s an easy way to throw everything in and make a nice new meal.
whisking milk with eggs
filling the crust with the vegetables and cheese
I do have a terrible habit of overestimating the filling volume for a quiche… as in double. With enough filling for a whole additional quiche, I grabbed another baking dish, buttered it, and poured the filling in (that’s why there are four eggs in the picture, but only three in my recipe). I am a big fan of crustless quiches and that is mostly because I think making pie or quiche crust is a pain in the ass.
pour the egg-milk over the filling
baked, cooled, sliced
Wow! I *love* this quiche and I should have known it was going to be phenomenal because what recipe that has potatoes and Gruyère isn’t? But then there is the slight bitterness of the kale, the earthy eggplant, sweet onions, and tangy peppers that make it happy and bright. It’s good. Very good. And you don’t have to use these vegetables, you can use whatever you like and I’ll bet it will be fantastic. The crustless version is just as lovely. I didn’t waste my vegetables and I really enjoy them this way. The best part? I’m going to have the leftover quiche for lunch!
veggie goodness
Roasted Vegetable Quiche
[print recipe]
1 large Yukon gold potato, peeled (optional) and diced (medium dice)
1 small eggplant, diced (medium dice)
1 medium bell pepper, diced (medium to large dice)
2-3 tbsps olive oil
salt
pepper
1 bunch of kale (about 8 stems), washed and torn
1 medium onion, sliced thin
more olive oil
1 pie crust
1 1/2 cups Gruyère, shredded
1 tbsp flour
3 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 tsp salt
pie crust
from Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup shortening or lard
3-4 tbsps cold water
Vegetables: Preheat oven to 425°F. You can use any vegetables you desire, but these are the ones I had on hand. Toss the diced potato, eggplant, and pepper with 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil, salt and pepper to taste in a wide baking dish so that the vegetables sit in a single layer. Roast for 30 minutes, remove from oven and let cool. In a sauté pan, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat and sauté the onions, stirring them about to avoid burning. Cook them for about 20 minutes until caramelized (I took mine off a little early) then remove from pan. In the same pan, heat a tablespoon of oil on high heat and sauté the kale until cooked. Remove from pan and roughly chop the kale.
Pie crust: Set the oven to 450°F. Mix flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Cut shortening into flour to form pea-sized pieces. Sprinkle water over the mixture and toss with fork until all is moistened. Form dough into a ball and roll out on lightly floured surface to about 12 inches in diameter. Press and form into a 9-inch pan. Line the crust with foil and bake for 5 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking for another 7 minutes. Remove from oven and reduce heat to 325°F.
Quiche: In a large bowl, toss the vegetables together. In a separate bowl, toss the cheese and flour together and then mix the cheese in with the vegetables. Fill the pie crust with the vegetable-cheese mix. Beat the eggs and stir in the milk and salt. Pour the milk over the vegetables and bake the quiche for 35-40 minutes. Let quiche rest out of the oven for 15 minutes before serving.
Crustless Quiche: I had leftover filling, so I grabbed an extra buttered pan and baked the rest without a crust. Oh boy, that is good too. It baked for the same amount of time (35-40 minutes) as the crusted quiche.
January 20th, 2011 at 12:19 am
Nice recipe! :) I love quiches too…
P.S. – that’s not a quiche pan (pie pans aren’t really suitable for this dish)
It was labeled a 9×3 quiche pan at the cook store – it’s not a pie pan. – jen
January 20th, 2011 at 12:54 am
Okay, you got me at the vegetables – love ’em! This is tomorrow night’s dinner. Thanks.
January 20th, 2011 at 2:12 am
This – this – has me tempted to try making quiche again after a couple of disasters.
January 20th, 2011 at 2:27 am
Looks so pretty and yummy. Im hungry now. Waiting for dinner time.
January 20th, 2011 at 6:15 am
I’m right there with you about lunch (and veggies, actually!). I love lunch – I’m hungry at lunch, but there’s still time to work off a big meal. The portion sizes are nicer if you go out, and the prices are more reasonable. Its a great way to try restaurants that are otherwise too expensive or fancy. Plus, the implications of who you have lunch with are way less than dinner, so you can have have lunch with anyone.
This quiche looks delicious, I will have to try it!
January 20th, 2011 at 6:36 am
Fantastic post…esp for those of us who love veggies…and that purple kale! Gorgeous!
January 20th, 2011 at 6:47 am
I’m a noodle girl, too! With a quiche like this, who wouldn’t like lunch?
January 20th, 2011 at 10:42 am
Healthy, and no doubt, super flav. I haven’t made a quiche in years. That’s about to change. :)
January 20th, 2011 at 11:48 am
I have a friend who raises chickens in her backyard, and has become the Quiche Queen in our circle. You can always count on her bringing Quiche to a potluck, which is fabulous, especially with these incredible farm-fresh eggs. Their yolks are almost orange, they are so vibrant! So versatile, and yummy.
And, in reply to “k,” I can say with some authority that the pan pictured is definitely a quiche pan. I used to bake professionally, and quiche was on our restaurant menu. They were always made in those pans. That said, those pans are a pain in the tush, with the dough sliding down the sides when you pre-bake the crust. Drove me nuts. That in and of itself was a good enough argument for crustless quiche.
Finally, LOVE Chez Thuy! Fun to see it in the picture. I am a fan of their noodle bowls with TONS of fish sauce!
January 20th, 2011 at 11:52 am
What can I say? I don’t know what I would do without you! Your blog is amazing. Amazing I say!
January 20th, 2011 at 12:02 pm
Veggies galore! Will definitely have to try out this quiche recipe. Thanks for sharing your days with us as well as the yummy recipes!
January 20th, 2011 at 12:53 pm
exquisite photos! I was just debating with my husband the differences between quiche and tart :)
January 20th, 2011 at 2:57 pm
Trying to use up random, about-to-expire veggies is the bane of my cooking existence sometimes. I think I get it from my parents, who have been known to buy veggies only to have half of them wilt away :( That is the one skill I’d like to develop. That purple/green kale looks like an amazing beautiful plant from Avatar or something.
January 20th, 2011 at 7:24 pm
Yum! I make crustless quiche too, but I call it a frittata. :)
January 20th, 2011 at 7:58 pm
thank you for yet another delicious inspiration!
January 21st, 2011 at 3:39 am
This is a must try and keep,almost good enough to eat off the page.
January 21st, 2011 at 4:33 am
it’s about 5:30 a.m. & i couldn’t sleep so i found your beautiful pix of quiche & i’m jazzed! i have all of those vegetables at this very moment so this is my inspiration for dinner tonight. well, i don’t have the varigated kale but i do have some baby spinach that needs to have attention & that will sub very well. p.s. the fluted edge is a “give-away”, k, it IS a quiche pan.
January 21st, 2011 at 8:09 am
The quiches look truly wonderful! Just a quokka warning for some of your quiche-challenged readers: be sure to cook most veggies before adding to the quiche, even if they are not leftover, since they can make the quiche too watery if used raw.
So love everything you do, Jen!
January 21st, 2011 at 8:49 am
This is perfect!!! thank you for the recipe, always looking for something to do with veggies other than roasting or sauteing them!!!
January 21st, 2011 at 7:36 pm
Wow there is really so much to do with vegetables and this recipe just makes me hungry… it is absolutely delightful. When it comes to vegetable I am really into salad and you just gave another idea. So excited to but those ingredients and try this recipe.
January 22nd, 2011 at 5:34 am
Just wanted to say I am glad I am not the only one who buys veggies because of their beauty! What a great picture of that kale. :)
January 22nd, 2011 at 9:24 pm
The quiche looks delicious! I’ll haveto make it the next time I have a girls’ lunch.
January 23rd, 2011 at 2:55 am
This looks scrumptious… what a great, easy supper idea! Thanks for sharing :)
January 26th, 2011 at 12:15 pm
love roasted veg in eggs and cheese! The hubs says “real men don’t eat quiche” so he eats roasted veg and egg pie…
January 28th, 2011 at 11:42 pm
Janet – oh farm-fresh eggs… that sounds lovely!
Shannon – aw, thanks! you’re sweet.
Tara – but does a frittata have cheese? I’ve made tortilla de patatas, but it’s just onion, potato, and egg.
MJC – ah yes, thanks for the tip! I didn’t even think of that.
Mollie – ha ha! egg pie ;)
October 27th, 2011 at 6:02 am
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November 6th, 2013 at 9:50 am
Was searching out the veggies to use for quiche since I don’t have the ‘norm’ today. Found your recipe and I have all these – kale, eggplant, potato, yellow peppers. Will slice tomatoes on top too. Thanks for the inspiration! One of my favorite quiches is with broccoli and walnuts, btw. And you are so right, anything with bacon.
August 1st, 2014 at 6:25 am
Hi,
followed recipe and found it was too much milk, had to add an egg during cooking and hope it gets done.
1st time I’ve cooked with Kale, will try this again.
also had extra filling and will make a crustless quiche
Thank you,
Jan