Quixotic Quiche

Another food box, another week…a marvelous week that is, for my culinary skills. I made my first quiche from scratch, dabbling into my French heritage. I had to use up some broccoli, leeks and mushrooms, so I just did a recipe search in goggle with those three guys and up popped an easy quiche recipe click here 

Gluten free crust:

1. 1.5 cups of gluten free flour with Xantham gum (bobs red mill or bulk barn)

2. ½ cup of cold fat (organic butter or coconut oil)

3. pinch of salt

4. 1 tsp of ice cold water if necessarry

Add all ingredients together (only use the water if it’s too dry after a good pounding). It’s easiest to mix ‘em up in a food processor. I just used my hands until it became nice and doughy and that worked just fine. Then roll it out and plop into a pie pan. It may break up while you try to do this, in that case just press in into the contour of the pan. Chill for 1 hour before pre-baking for 10 minutes on 400 degrees, remove, add the filing and the bake again.

Quiche filling:

1 tbsp olive oil
1 leek
8 mushrooms
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 broccoli crown
2 stems of fresh rosemary (note the rosemary bush in the picture aboutve :)
3 eggs
1 ¼ cups unsweetened almond milk
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
Raw organic cheddar cheese (optional)

Chop up the leeks and mince the garlic, saute them in the olive oil in a frying pan over the stove. After 5 minutes add in the broccoli, mushroom and rosemary, cook for 10 minutes. Place in the pre-baked pie crust. In a separate bowl mix up the eggs, almond milk, salt and pepper. Pour into the pie and top with the cheese. Bake in the oven on 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Spicey spotlight ROSEMARY:

Rosemary is known to have memory enhancing properties as an essential oil. Get out that diffuser for your next round of midterms! Medically it has components shown to decrease the risk of stroke and alzheimer’s, heart disease and inflammation. In Ayurvedic medicine it’s known as a pungent spice that eases menstruation, headaches, harmonizes the heart and emotions. Interestingly enough, historically it’s been used as a symbol for remembrance during weddings and funerals.

Kale Krisps

I had copious amounts of Kale in my last two food boxes. Combine that and a craving for salty chips and you get Kale Krisps. 

In the past I’ve tried dehydrated Kale chips that I’ve purchased at health food stores, so I was curious to try my own, baked!

All you do is peel off bite sized pieces from the kale, wash, dry and lay out flat on a baking sheet. Then drizzle with olive oil, salt and any spices your heart desires. Let it sit in a 350 degree C oven for about 10 minutes (even less if the sides of the kale start to brown). 

The end result is healthy, crispy, salty goodness…

Caution: it’s super easy to burn your krisps so pay special attention. Take them out as soon as you see any browning. The first time may just end up being a learning experience! But if you’ve got lots of kale, you can always try again :)

Healthy Kale: Kale is part of the brassica family of plants which includes broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts and collard greens. They are known to be “liver loving foods” and are commonly added to cleansing diets. It’s high in calcium, therefore a great addition to the diet of those concerned about their calcium intake. Apparently the calcium absorption from Kale is 40% as compared to 32% from milk. Kale is also high in beta carotene, vit K and C, zeaxanthin and lutein. Kale also contains a compound touted for it’s anti-cancer properties indole-3-carbinol. Sounds like a pretty healthy green to me!

Concerned about salt? Stay tuned for a post to address these concerns in more detail. In the meantime, note that I use Herbamare. Herbamare is a salt substitute made from vegetables and herbs steeped in brine for months before being dehydrated and ground into powder. FYI sea salt has 420 mg pr gram whereas Herbamare has only 300 mg of sodium per gram.

One should eat to live, not live to eat. - Franklin