Crustless Quinoa Quiche

Crustless Quinoa Quiche

This past year, I noticed an interesting quiche recipe which incorporates my new favorite food... quinoa! The recipe was a finalist in the Pillsbury Bake-Off. Click HERE to see the recipe. I kept wondering about the texture of the quinoa baked into the milky-eggy quiche custard. I started to dream up my own recipe for a crust-less quiche. I got to thinking the dish would be like an “egg strata” with layers of yummy ingredients and the quinoa would take the place of the slices of bread you would find in a traditional egg strata. Much like the quiche recipe I posted about recently, this dish has limitless possibilities. Again, I used left over tidbits from the refrigerator. I am happy to report this dish turned out great! I am enjoying this for my lunches at work this week. It appears the quinoa sort of rises to the very top of the dish as it bakes, so the dish is not as  layered anymore, but instead has a nice, firm, consistent texture throughout. I bet this would be a good recipe if you have folks over for brunch. I had considered calling this recipe something like... “Quinoa Egg Strata”... but, since I really have a "thing" for ALLITERATIONS, I am calling this recipe “Crustless Quinoa Quiche”. I look forward to making this again with other ingredients. Here’s the recipe:

Crustless Quionoa Quiche (with Broccoli, Peppers, Onions, Ham, & Swiss)

½ cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed and drained
a scant cup of water
1/4 to ½ teaspoon salt

3 large eggs
1 can low-fat (2%) evaporated milk (14 ounces)
1/4 to ½ teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

1/2 to 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
½ red bell pepper, finely diced
1/4 of a yellow onion, diced
1 to 1 ½ cups cooked, chopped broccoli (*)
1 cup grated Swiss cheese
5 to 6 ounces diced ham
Optional garnish: before baking, sprinkle dish with chopped fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley. I used way too much... don’t do what I did!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8" x 8" x 2" baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

Combine the quinoa, salt, and a scant cup of water in small pot; bring to a boil, reduce temperature to lowest setting, cover with a lid, and cook (covered) for 17 to 19 minutes (or until all liquid is absorbed).

In a medium-sized bowl, combine the eggs, milk, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and crushed red pepper flakes; set aside.

In a non-stick skillet, heat the olive oil; add the peppers and onions. Saute (or sweat) out the excess moisture out of the vegetables until the onions become translucent; stir frequently.

To assemble, place the ingredients in the prepared 8" x 8" x 2" baking dish in the following order: quinoa, broccoli, ham, cheese, sauteed vegetables.  Next, pour the egg-mixture over the layered ingredients. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 50 to 60 minutes. You might want to check your dish for doneness at about 45 minutes (I live at high altitude and 55 minutes was perfect for me, but at sea level... your Crustless Quinoa Quiche may cook more quickly... say that fives times really fast! Hee, hee!)

(*) I did not have any cooked broccoli in the fridge. I just had one crown of broccoli. I broke the crown into about a dozen “trees”. Next, I brought about 1 cup water to a boil in a small pot, I added the broccoli to the pot, covered the pot with a lid, and cooked for about 2 minutes. Then I drained the broccoli and placed it into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. I chopped the broccoli into smaller pieces before adding it to the dish.

Layers of goodness... yum!