Weekend Brunch Quiche

by sherri on March 25, 2013

We love the mini crustless quiches from Fat Free Vegan, but have been on a quest for a full-sized quiche with a little more varied texture. For several weeks now I’ve been experimenting with quiche recipes on the weekends and finally have something I’m happy to post a recipe for. You can feel free to vary the veggies you add, changing them to fit the seasons, but the mix I include is pretty tasty.

The final version featured fresh kale raab we’d picked up the same morning at the Farmer’s Market. If you can get kale raab in the spring it is particularly lovely to find. Tender, sweeter, and so delicious, raab is a real treat when the spring veggies start coming in. Here in Portland we often see raab arrive before asparagus.

The Stuff

  • 1 large, sweet bell pepper (red or orange)
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 small red onion
  • 1 medium zucchini
  • 1 bunch kale or kale raab OR 1 large head broccoli
  • 4 T chopped chives
  • 4T chopped parsley
  • 2t Herbes de Provence
  • 12 oz firm, water-packed tofu
  • 1 package firm, silken tofu
  • 2T cornstarch
  • 1/4 c nutritional yeast
  • 1/2 cup vegan milk*
  • 1 T champagne vinegar
  • 1/2 t turmeric
  • 1/2 t dry mustard
  • 1/2 t black salt
  • fresh pepper & sea salt
  • 1 pre-made pie crust

The Making

Pre-bake the crust according to the directions and set aside. This recipe honestly makes a bit more than the pre-made crust and pan will hold, so I usually make a half dozen crustless quiches in silicon baking cups too.

Finely dice all veggies. Shred kale thinly or dice leaves along with the raab.

Bring a saute pan to medium-high heat and lightly coat with spray oil. Add onions and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes, add garlic and continue to saute until very fragrant, about 3 more minutes. Add zucchini and bell pepper, sauteing for 7 minutes before adding 2 tablespoons each of the parsley and chives, Herbes de Provence, sea alt & freshly ground pepper, and kale. Saute for another 7 minutes and remove from heat.

Squeeze out water from water-packed tofu. No need to press for a long time, just squeeze out a little of the excess water with your hands. Crumble into large mixing bowl and add sauteed veggies & herbs. Add in remaining parsley and chives.

Put silken tofu, cornstarch, nutritional yeast, vegan milk, vinegar, turmeric, dry mustard, and black salt into the container for a high-speed blender. Blend until smooth, scraping down the sides to be certain all dry ingredients are incorporated well with wet. Add contents of the container to the mixing bowl with the tofu and sauteed veggies.

Mix together all ingredients until evenly combined. Pour mixture into pre-cooked pie crust. You will have enough to fill 6 silicon baking cups that have been sprayed with oil first. Place filled pie crust and baking cups onto a baking tray. Bake in an oven pre-heated to 400 F for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the comes out clean.

Let quiche stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Makes 8 servings.

*This recipe also featured a new product from So Delicious, a lovely, creamy Barista-Style Coconut Milk Creamer. A few weeks ago So Delicious graciously offered to send me some to try out, so I’ve used it in a few places where I’d otherwise have used soy or almond milk.

Christie has totally fallen in love with the Unsweetened Vanilla Coconut Milk to add to her smoothies. There should be a smoothie recipe coming soon.

So far the creamer has been a good stand-in and adds a nice richness to the dishes I’ve made with it. It might be boring, but I’m just loving the creamer added to my black tea in the morning, even more so than the  is really wonderful in my black tea in the morning!

There’s also been an experiment with Irish Soda Bread, using both the Barista-Style Creamer for a savory bread and the Vanilla Coconut Milk for a sweet bread with dried blueberries.

 

{ 2 comments }

Mustard & Herb Roasted Red Potatoes

by sherri on March 16, 2013

In honor of St. Patrick’s day I thought I’d try to make some potatoes and cabbage for us. I found myself really wanted roasted potatoes rather than boiled. I was inspired to add some herbs and mustard and the result was so fantastic that I quickly snapped a photo with my phone and jotted down the recipe. Such an easy recipe it is too!

This was the first time I think I’ve used the roast feature, one of the convection options, on our oven in the new house. Wow, such a great feature. My “convection oven” before was a decent toaster oven with a convection setting, having an oven that has “regular” and “convection” modes is a treat. The upgrades to our kitchen are such an improvement!

The Stuff

  • 1 pound small red potatoes
  • 1-2 t dijon mustard
  • 1/4 t thyme
  • 1/2 t dill
  • 1 T olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • black pepper and sea salt to taste

The Making

Preheat oven to 350.

Scrub potatoes and quarter. Toss with other ingredients in a bowl and pour out on to a baking sheet. Distribute evenly

Roast potatoes at 350 for 35 minutes, turning at 25 minutes, or until tender. Serve alongside more delicious food or eat right off the pan.

I served this alongside some cabbage and Gardein beefless tips, inspired by a recipe from Meet the Shannons. I say inspired by because I didn’t start early enough or have pickling spice on hand. Really, I remembered seeing the recipe online and being really intrigued by it, but only decided to make it while I was at the market and only could remember that it used the Gardein beefless tips.

Here’s my kind of short-cut of their very cool recipe:

I just tossed the beefless tips in a bowl with 1/4 cup pickle brine (from a jar of Bubbies Bread & Butter Chips) with some mustard seeds, ground coriander, allspice, and cloves, along with some minced garlic and a splash of nigori-style sake (I didn’t seem to have a bottle of white wine in the house, how the hell did that happen?!). I used half a sweet onion and sauteed the marinated tips with it, getting some nice caramelized bits on the bottom of our 3-quart saute pan, before adding some broth (2 cups hot water + 1 no-salt bullion cube) and putting the cabbage in to simmer with a little Alaea salt.

{ 0 comments }

Corny Dry Rub

August 27, 2012
Thumbnail image for Corny Dry Rub

This post also could be titled, “What I ate for my birthday picnic”, but there’s also a recipe for a dry rub that I’ve been tweaking with and using all summer on an abundance of summer squash, tofu and tempeh. The idea started in a cookbook for The Grit restaurant that our lovely friend, Michael, [...]

Read the full article →

Summer Sushi Roll

July 9, 2012
Thumbnail image for Summer Sushi Roll

Last summer I finally got the hang of fresh fava beans and we were hooked. This year we haven’t had any yet, but last weekend I picked up a few pounds at the Gresham Farmers Market. The combination of shiso in our garden and fresh favas inspired me to answer Christie’s desire for sushi. The [...]

Read the full article →

Ensalada de Tres Colores

June 11, 2012
Thumbnail image for Ensalada de Tres Colores

One of those recipes that I had in mind and when I made it, the dish came out exactly what I was hoping for. Crunchy and tangy with a creamy, cilantro dressing. This also makes a great topping for the very tasty Pinto Burgers from Everyday Happy Herbivore, a cookbook we picked up recently by [...]

Read the full article →

Cilantro Lime Ranch Dressing

June 11, 2012
Thumbnail image for Cilantro Lime Ranch Dressing

For a few years Christie and I’ve been trying to create a non-vegan dressing from Trader Joe’s she’d really loved. We’d made some good dressings, but nothing quite right. Today I’ve found the recipe in this creamy, delicious Ciltantro Lime Ranch. This dressing is used for my fantastic, summery slaw, Ensalada de Tres Colores. The [...]

Read the full article →

Pleasing Mac & Cheeze

May 21, 2012
Thumbnail image for Pleasing Mac & Cheeze

** Update May 25, 2012 ** Wow! I’m blown away that this recipe won the Lunch/Dinner category for the So Much to Love Givaway from So Delicious Dairy Free! I’m being treated to a BIG shopping spree as my prize – there’s sure to be a blog post about my purchases later. The last of [...]

Read the full article →

Pumpkin Korma

May 14, 2012
Thumbnail image for Pumpkin Korma

My first foray into the pumpkin korma yielded something more akin to an aloo gobi. Very tasty, but not a korma. After revisiting the recipe again, and adding more So Delicious Plain Greek-Style Coconut Yogurt is what finally made this recipe exactly what I wanted it to be: a satisfying, rich, warming korma! Despite the rich [...]

Read the full article →

Spiced Oats & Figs

May 7, 2012
Thumbnail image for Spiced Oats & Figs

I’m so excited that Vegan Nosh has been selected to participate in the So Delicious® Dairy Free “SO Much to Love” recipe contest happening on Facebook! For the next 4 weeks there will be 64 fantastic new recipes posted, with three brand-new recipes coming from Vegan Nosh! Each week there will great prizes for fans [...]

Read the full article →

Fresh Lemon Relish!

April 30, 2012
Thumbnail image for Fresh Lemon Relish!

While shopping at Uwajimaya recently Christie spotted a fresh lemon relish made with very thinly sliced lemon, sea salt, sugar and rice vinegar. Some was out to sample and it was delicious. Sweet, salty, sour, tangy. I had to get some. The result was another Japanese-inspired feast! No recipes yet, this is nothing but Food [...]

Read the full article →