You may have noticed that several of my recipes feature eggs – a lot of eggs! There is good reason for that. About a year ago, my son Blake, who is eleven had what he thought was brilliant idea to raise chickens. He had had market broilers during the summer as a 4-H project, but this was a new 24/7 ballgame. His parents took some convincing – which he did after about 4 months of research, investigating and a very thorough pro/cons list! And, truly, it is fantastic. What a great way for him to learn responsible care of animals, food safety, money management and much, much more.
We started with an old chicken coop on our farm. But, when the broilers arrived for the summer, there was NO room – now we are the proud owners of not one, but TWO chicken coops, with the layers getting the new plush, insulated coop – these girls have work to do!
And, his flock has expanded from ten layers to twenty-five, which means we have lots and lots of eggs everyday. (So, if you live in the Hastings area and would like some farm-fresh eggs, give me a shout-out – we can hook you up!!).
This is one of my absolute favorite recipes, especially when our egg supply starts to get a little ridiculous. There are just so many variations that you can use in it – whatever vegetables you have on hand, if you have leftover meat you can always throw that in. Home-made pie crust or pre-made – whatever works!
Cheesy Vegetable Quiche
All you need:
1 pie crust, homemade or pre-made
1 small onion, chopped
2 cups broccoli, chopped
1 1/2 cups mushrooms, sliced
1-2 T. olive oil or grapeseed oil
ham or bacon, optional
other potential vegetables: spinach, zucchini, carrots, tomatoes
7-8 eggs
1/2 c. Sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1/3 c. Olive oil light salad dressing
1/4 c. skim milk
1/2 tsp black pepper
All you do:
1. Place olive oil in a cold pan. Warm on medium heat. Add chopped vegetables and saute for 5 minutes until vegetables are just starting to soften.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, light salad dressing, milk and black pepper. Add cheese.
3. Place crust into a 9″ pie pan. Pour cooked vegetables into the pie crust. Cover with egg mixture.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for ~ 25 minutes (until the crust and top of the eggs are golden brown and the center is set). Let sit for 5 minutes. Cut and Enjoy!
The best part of this recipe is that it great fresh from the oven, but just as good the next day for breakfast! It is also a great way to use up all those end of summer vegetables (and all the extra eggs!)