Quiche

Quiche is so easy to make and freeze and can be made with any extra veggies you have on hand.


Quiche
Pie Crust
1 cup cheese
1 cup veggies
1 tbs flour
4 eggs slightly beaten
1 1/2 cups milk, cream, or combination of the two
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Preheat oven to 450º. Make pie crust and roll out to fit pie plate or similar dish. Line the pie crust with foil and cook for 8 min remove foil and cook an additional 5 min. Remove the pie crust from the oven and let cool.
Grate the cheese and chop the veggies. Mix together the cheese, veggies, and flour. Sprinkle the cheese mixture over the cooled crust. Stir together the eggs, milk, and spices. Pour the egg mixture over the cheese and veggies.
Bake at 350º for 35-40 min until set in the center. Let stand for 10 min before serving.

Quiche can be frozen before or after baking.
If frozen before baking- Bake as directed adding 10-20 min to the time.
If frozen after baking- Bake as directed for 20-30 min.

Brown Butter Pasta

This is one of our simplest and most loved dinners. I pull this one out a lot when one of us adults will be out of the house. It is even better when made with fresh homemade pasta!

Brown Butter Pasta
2 cups pasta
4-5 tbs butter
Mizithra cheese
Parmesan Cheese
1 cup frozen or fresh peas

Cook pasta in boiling water when there is about 4 min left in the pasta cook time add the peas. Melt and brown butter in a small skillet over med heat. Drain the pasta and peas and mix with the butter. Finely grate the cheese over the pasta. Serve warm.

Options-

add different veggies cooking in your desired way

instead of butter drizzle a bit of olive oil over the warm pasta

Flatbread

Flat bread is used a lot in our house. It can be topped wit any number of sauces and veggies and it also can be baked crisp and broken o make wonderful chips.

Flatbread
2 cups wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
3 tbs olive oil
1 cup cold water or thin veggie puree

Preheat oven and baking sheet to 400. Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the oil and then the water stir well then pour out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough until smooth. Divide the dough into 8 equal size balls. On a floured surface roll each ball out until very thin.
Place on the heated baking sheet and bake for 3 min. Cook only two or three at a time depending on the size of your baking sheet. Remove and let cool at least 5 min before placing on toppings and cooking an additional 5-10 min.
If making chips bake the bread without toppings for 3 min then remove from the baking sheet and bake for an additional 5 min on the oven rack. When cool break into pieces.

Grilled Feta

I made this the other night it was from my latest issue of Real Simple Magazine. Our family enjoyed it so much I just had to share it. The magazine calls for pita chips instead of flatbread but the flatbread sounded good, plus it is slightly easier to make. The next time I have extra pita chips though I will be grilling up some feta for them.

Grilled Feta with Thyme
12 ounce piece feta
6 sprigs thyme
2 tbs olive oil
Flatbread

Place feta in the middle of a large piece of foil. Top with thyme and sprinkle with the olive oil. Fold the foil to create a small sealed packet. Grill the packet on a preheated grill med-low heat for 10-15 min or place the packet in a 350 oven for 10-15 min. Serve with Grilled flatbread broken into chip size pieces.

Make packet up to 1 day ahead and bring to room temperature before cooking.

Lentil Burgers

I made these the other day and they were delicious! Better then any other veggie burger we have ever had! I love that because I made my own buns and burgers I could make them any size I wanted. Not to big not to small just perfect for our family plus I now have 2 more dinners in the freezer.

Lentil Burgers
½ cup barley
1 ½ cups water
1 cup lentils
2 ½ cups water

½ cup walnuts
2tbs olive oil
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
2 carrots
2 tbs all purpose flour
1 ½ tsp spices
½ tsp salt

Boil water in two medium size pans. Add barley and lentils to the pans, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 45 min or until most to all of the water is gone. Mix the lentils and the barley together.

While the lentils and barley are cooking finely grind the walnuts using and food processor. Place the walnuts in a large bowl and set aside. Finely chop and sauté vegetables in the olive oil. Add the veggies to the bowl along with the flour, spices, barley and lentils. Mix and mash together until it forms a moist mixture that holds together but is not runny. If needed add more flour or veggie broth/water. Form mixture into patties. Freeze and store or Bake at 400° for 20-30 min.

Serve on Hamburger Buns with
Cheese slices, lettuce, spinach, tomato slices, onion, avocado, mayo, ketchup, relish. Whatever you like on your burger!

Bean Loaf Cupcakes

We have been enjoying this recipe for many months but just recently I decided to try baking it in the silicone cupcake holders I have. It worked perfectly to create little individual servings. I then cooked and pureed sweet potatoes to add as the "frosting" on the cakes.

Bean Loaf
1/2 cup seeds/nuts
2 tbs olive oil
One onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 carrot, peeled and grated
1 bell pepper cut into small pieces2 cups cooked beans (we use black beans)
1 cup grated cheese
1 cup dry whole wheat bread crumbs
3 tbs ap flour
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried basil
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp. salt1/4 to 1/2 cup veggie broth, as needed

Preheat the oven to 350º. Set out 12 cupcake holders or spray a loaf pan or 8x8 square baking pan with cooking oil and set aside. Grind seeds in a food processor and put in a large bowl. Sauté the onion, garlic, and vegetables in the olive oil until soft. Add to the large mixing bowl along with all the remaining ingredients except the veggie broth. Mix and mash together well, adding only as much veggie broth as needed to create a soft, moist loaf that holds together and is not runny. Add more bread crumbs as needed if the loaf seems too wet. Press mixture into the prepared pan, or cups and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until cooked through and the top is crispy. Let cool in the pan for 10 to 15. Top with pureed sweet potatoes. Serve warm with a small amount of ketchup if desired.
The bean loaf can also be frozen after cooking and reheated in a 350º.

Pureed Sweet Potatoes
Wash, peel, and chop sweet potatoes. I usually do 2-3 at a time. Place in a large sauce pan along filled with just enough water to cover the potatoes and 1 tsp lemon juice. Place on stove and bring to a boil. Reduce heat cover and continue to cook for about 20-30 min until the potatoes can easily be punctured with a fork. Puree in a blender or with a hand blender in the pot.

French Bread

I use this bread a lot for grilled sandwiches, garlic bread, and for fondue.

French bread (1 lbs loaf)
¾ cup + 2 tbs warm water
1 ½ tsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tbs sugar
½ tsp dried herbs
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1 c wheat flour
1 c ap flour
4 tsp vital wheat gluten
1 ½ tsp active dry yeast


Place ingredients in the bread machine in the order listed. Set the machine on the french loaf cycle with light crust.