Cheesy Spring Vegetable Quiche With Potato Crust

More Green than a salad (and much tastier)

Hellooooooooooooo friends,

I know spring is officially over and I should be posting about summer and ice cream and BBQs and smoothies but before all of that, just hear me out (there will always be time for BBQs). Whilst it may be June, the weather is still anybody’s guess. For those of you who aren’t in England, I’ll put it this way; early last week there was so much rain that a bunch of roads flooded making getting to work more like a trip down splash mountain yet by Sunday it was so sunny and hot that my friend Katy’s arms decided to sport a wonderfully bold shade of lobster red, meanwhile I sweated enough to potentially be classed as a contributing factor towards the Arctic’s rising sea levels. It’s not the melting ice caps, it’s me.

Sorry about that.

Hence, as we are still transitioning into summer, today’s little recipe is full of typical spring ingredients but fear not, if you fancy an attempt at a picnic or BBQ outside, this lightened up quiche will still be a perfect accompaniment.

Another reason that I’ve still got spring on the brain is actually because of a very special reason. Recently my parents (down in the distant land of Devon) made the joyous and slightly surprising decision to get a puppy! Well I say ‘surprising’ but Mum has wanted another dog for ages and we all knew it was just a matter of time until dad caved. In fact, when mum said that they were going for a viewing we basically told dad to kiss goodbye to the concept of half-hour long ‘plodding’ walks with tally (the mature canine of the family) along with both a urine-free living room floor and socks that haven’t been chewed into pulp.

In the space of only a week mum and dad went from pondering over pooches to proud puppy parents.

And here’s the little chap that’s joined the family, happily introducing Ziggy.

‘Hello, very nice to meet you, please allow me to jump around and vibrate with pure excitement before eating dad’s plants and attempting to face hug those cats’.

I actually have a frightening compulsion to bite his face, he’s just so cute, damn it!

But what has this got to do with spring?

Well, Ziggy is an English Springer Spaniel (just like Tally). Wheeeeyyyy! *nudge, nudge*

As the name suggests, this breed in particular are one of the most excitable, hyper, bouncy and energetic. However, we think Tally may be defective because even though she was slightly full of beans when she was younger, she now resides and head moody cow in my parents abode. She honestly makes Victor Meldrew look like a power puff girl. She’s still loveable though, albeit in her own sort of way.Hopefully Ziggy will be loveable too. I’m sure he will be but just to be 100% sure Tasha and I decided that the best course of action would be to take a brief road trip this weekend to visit the family and meet the little ball of marshmallow squidge ourselves.

Now, going to Devon for two days on a week’s notice just to visit a puppy may seem a little irresponsible to some, but I can justify it. In the space of a week, my parents actually contemplated visited, picked out and brought home a puppy. I actually think by comparison, I’m not too bad. I also made Quiche and if that doesn’t scream responsible adult/middle aged mother at a church fete than I don’t know what does. 

And speaking of responsible – let’s talk about this quiche

(Honestly, who writes this stuff? Well that would be me…)

This warm- weathered classic is made out of whole-food ingredients and has been lightened up a bit with a few undetectable subs. Firstly,  I  replaced some of the yolks with extra egg whites - not because yolks are bad, in fact they’re one of the most nutrient dense foods on the planet and are packed full of healthy fats and protein but Grandad has to watch his cholesterol levels and there is such a thing as too much yolk when it comes to that.

Secondly, I passed on the fat filled pastry (despite it being oh so wonderful) and made the crust out of…wait for it…

…well you don’t actually have to, it’s in the title of the post…

…you could save time and just scroll up to see for yourself…

…it’s literally at the top of the page…

…ok fine I’ll say it again…

…Potatoes!!!

Yep, good old fashioned spuds, they worked wonders for this and were so easy to work with. I think sweet potatoes (one of my eternal loves) would also be amazing in this recipe.

Finally, to top off this the healthful aspect of this spring pie it’s also chocked to the brim full of vegetables. So, if you want your 5 a day without the bowl of salad or green smoothie, this is a great option.

Easy, vegetarian, fresh and lean, it’s the perfect way to see in the summer. Goodbye spring, hello springers! J

Cheesy Spring Vegetable Quiche

Serves 6

Crust Ingredients:

• 2 large potatoes
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• Salt/pepper to taste
• Optional: any other desired herbs/seasonings 

Filling Ingredients:

• 2 whole eggs + 4 egg whites (you can mix it up here and use 4 whole eggs or 8 egg whites or whatever combination you fancy – I like a bit of yolky goodness so opted for a split)
• 1/3 cup almond milk (any milk will work)
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp mustard powder
• Salt/pepper to taste
• 1 cup chopped asparagus
• 1 diced white onion
• 1 cup chopped mushrooms
• 1 cup chopped spinach
• 1 cup chopped rocket
• A small handful of chopped parsley
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 30g grated mature cheddar (you only need about 1 serving’s worth)

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 Fahrenheit).
• Grate the potatoes (you can save time if you have a potato shredder attachment on your food processor – I didn’t and used this as my ‘bicep training’ excuse for the day).
• Place the shredded potato into an old (but clean) towel and wrap it up tightly, twisting and squeezing to ring out any excess liquid.
• Place in a bowl and stir through your seasonings before spraying down a baking paper lined circular pie dish with either cooking spray or oil and pressing the potato into it. Try to make the layer even, covering both the bottom and the sides.
• Spray the top of the crust lightly with some cooking spray/oil and place in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden and starting to crisp at the edges.
• Whilst the crust is baking, you can chop up the veggies (if you haven’t already done so and sauté them in a sprayed pan over medium heat just till the peas are no longer frozen and the onion is translucent. Remove from the heat after 5 minutes or so and set aside.
• In a bowl, combine the eggs, almond milk, garlic powder, mustard powder and salt/pepper if desired. Mix the ingredients together well before adding in the slightly cooled vegetables.
• Remove the crust from the oven when it is ready and pour in the filling. Sprinkle over the cheese and return to the oven for 30 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before cutting and devouring.