quickie quiche (with and without eggs)

QUICHE!
(or quickie as my sister’s friend likes to call it haha) 

let’s seee…

monday night was my turn to make dinner for my aunt and uncle and cousins, 
who always do so much for me.

and i definitely wanted to make a quiche, but i don’t eat eggs, 
and i didn't want to bring peanut butter and jelly for myself.

plain old egg and spinach quiche is so easy
 that a 2 year old with sponges for arms can make it with their eyes closed. 
as you know, i don’t like to measure anything, 
and quiche is one of those things you really never have to. 
it was coming up with a vegan version i thought might be hard.

every single vegan quiche i have ever tasted has either been bland, 
tasted an accident in the tahini factory, or has been crumbly and slimy.

but i think i figured it out!

(sorry for the crappy piccies… i have to use my phone until i can locate my camera…)

RECIPE-ISH #1 : VEGGIE QUICHE 

Ingredients!

*5 eggs
*heavy cream
*your favorite egg seasonings (i use sea salt and pepper)
*nutmeg
*about 3 handfuls of baby spinach, chopped
*a couple of cloves of garlic, chopped and sauteed
*1/2 of a medium/small vidalia onion, chopped and sauteed
*a bag of colby jack shreds or american shreds, or whatever cheeses you want
*pre-baked deep dish pie crust according to directions
*smoked paprika
*aluminum foil 

Directions!

PREHEAT OVEN TO 350 

*crack eggs into a large bowl.  add heavy cream… 1/4 to 1 cup depending on your tastes.
*add salt and pepper and a pinch of nutmeg to the eggs.
*beat the eggs.
*mix in the chopped baby spinach, onion, garlic.  (you can saute your spinach if you want, but i put mine in fresh)
*mix in your bag of shredded cheese.
*pour into your pie shell.
*sprinkle the top of your quiche with smoked paprika and cover with aluminum foil
*bake until set. (my oven is ancient— it takes about 35 minutes in mine)
*you can bake it for a few minutes without the foil near the end to get a nice golden top

****you can add chopped ham if you eat meat, or sauteed mushrooms, or just about anything you want.  it is a super easy dinner that doesn’t cost much to make****

fucking easy, right? 

now onto my experiment…


RECIPE-ISH #2 : VEGAN QUICHE

 Ingredients!

*tub of extra firm tofu, crumbled
*plain soy milk
*sea salt, pepper
*tumeric
*nutmeg
*three handfuls of baby spinach, chopped
*a couple of garlic cloves, chopped and sauteed
*1/2 of a small vidalia onion, chopped and sauteed
*bag of vegan american cheese shreds (i used a combo of daiya and follow your heart)
*vegan parmesan
*pre-baked deep dish pie crust according to directions
*smoked paprika
*aluminum foil

Directions!

PREHEAT OVEN TO 350 

*add crumbled tofu to a food processor or blender and add 1/2 of a cup of plain soy milk. pulse until it resembles a really thick version of ricotta cheese.  transfer to a bowl.
*add salt and pepper and a pinch of nutmeg to the mixture.  stir.
* add tumeric for color. as much as you want until you are satisfied that it looks egg-y and yellow.
*mix in the chopped baby spinach, onion, garlic.  (once again, you can saute your spinach if you want, but i put mine in fresh and chopped)
*mix in your bag of shredded cheese.
*mix in roughly 1/4 c of vegan parm or more to taste.
*stir until well incorporated.
*spoon into your pie shell.
*sprinkle the top of your quiche with smoked paprika and cover with aluminum foil
*bake until set and firm. (it took about 25 minutes in my wonky oven)
*you can bake it for a few minutes without the foil near the end to get a nice golden top



**this is the first vegan quiche i have ever tried that didn't crumble into 45832783 pieces when i sliced it.**

walnut shrimp (sorta)

let me start off by saying any vegan or vegetarian in the philadelphia area 
gets an instant orgasm at the mere mention of the walnut shrimp from harmony.

even my meat-eating boyfriend goes ape-shit batty whenever someone brings it up.

yeh, its that good.

the problem?
we can’t always get to philly,
and sometimes we are just flat broke. 

because of this we developed our own version of this drool-worthy dish
(it’s similar…with a few changes of course) 

VEGGIE HONEY AGAVE WALNUT PECAN SHRIMP
(maria-style, with no exact measurements)

ingredients

• package of mock shrimp
  (i get mine at various asian markets or at vegieworld.com…
  READ THE LABELS if you are vegan… sometimes it has eggs)
• flour batter mixture of your choice
  and a separate bowl of flour for dredging, too
  (i make a pasty batter out of flour, salt, smoked paprika, 
  garlic powder and club soda or coca cola.)
• oil for frying
• vegenaise , 
  

  roughly 3-6 tablespoons 
  (grapeseed kind)
• agave nectar, 
  

  3-6 tablespoons 
  (or honey, if you use honey)
• plain soy milk or almond milk
  (not vanilla… and rice milk tastes like balls in this recipe) 
• a lemon
• pecan halves
  (of course you can use walnuts, but i like pecans!) 
• sugar of your choice
• steamed broccoli
  (to put your shrimp and sauce on) 

directions

• candy the pecans boil the nuts for a minute or so, drain all but enough water to cover them, and add your sugar to make a simple syrup
• make your sauce combine the vegenaise, and agave in a large bowl. start out with about three tablespoons of each. 
• add a dollop of soy moo and a squeeze of lemon
  the rest is up to you!
  want it creamier? add more vegenaise.
  sweeter? add more agave.
  tangier? add a touch more lemon
• make your wet batter  use your favorite batter, but make it a little bit on the thicker side.
  adding a carbonated drink to your dry batter ingredients will give an awesome, crispy end result! 
• set out a separate bowl or plate of flour  season it however you like 
•  batter up
  dip the shrimp in the DRY flour, then into the WET batter, then back into the DRY flour. 
• fry, fry, fry  set fried shrimps on a paper towel or paper bag to drain 
• coat those shrimpies
  toss your fried shrimp in your vegenaise sauce
• plate it up
   scoop your saucy shrimp on top of steamed broccoli.
  sprinkle the candied pecans on top.
  
  
• EAT EAT EAT...  AND EAT!