Spinach, green onion and smoked gouda quiche

I really wanted to try this recipe but I knew that my other half doesn't like wilted spinach. Spinach salads are ok but cooked greens, no way. So I reluctantly asked him if he would try it, and surprisingly, he agreed!  Let me just say that I'm glad he did, this is sooooooooooo amazingly good.

I admit, I am a lover of quiche. I was a little worried about this being a CL recipe; would it have the same tasty goodness of a regular quiche? You can see this quiche has a crust, so it's not as healthy as a crustless quiche, but it calls for reduced fat milk.  CL has downsized the portion size, which is not filling enough for a meal. I think instead of the 10 servings this quoted, we ended up making it 6 (341 cals per serving).  Perhaps you could make it 10 servings if you served this with a salad.  I also can't remember if we used 1% as the recipe calls for, or if we used skim (we usually have skim).  If I were you, I'd just try it with 1% instead of experimenting with skim.  I'll just have to make this again using skim and report back right? :)  I also used store-bought crust since I already had it.

So I tagged this with a 'vegetarian' label which the original recipe is, but we made a few non-veg friendly modifications. First of all, we used the Yancey's Fancy Smoked Gouda with Bacon.  It was creamy and delicious and it was the only one we could find at our grocery store.  Secondly, we added in leftover rotisserie chicken (maybe 1/2 C to 1C) to give this even more protein.

This is definitely going in the book. I want to make this again...soon.

As of today's post, 10 people agreed that it's a 5 out of 5!

Recipe by Joanne Wier, Cooking Light, August 2010

Yield: 10 servings (serving size: 1 wedge)

Ingredients

• Crust:
• 6  tablespoons  butter, softened
• 2  tablespoons  1% low-fat milk
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1  large egg yolk
• 5.6  ounces  all-purpose flour (about 1 1/4 cups)
• Filling:
• 1  tablespoon  extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2  cup  thinly sliced green onions
• 3  cups  fresh baby spinach
• 1  cup  1% low-fat milk
• 3/4  cup  (3 ounces) grated smoked Gouda cheese
• 3/4  teaspoon  salt
• Dash of grated nutmeg
• 3  large eggs

Preparation

1. To prepare crust, place butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Combine milk, salt, and egg yolk in a small bowl; stir well with a whisk. Add milk mixture to butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour; beat just until combined. Press mixture into a 4-inch circle on plastic wrap; cover. Chill for 1 hour.
2. Preheat oven to 350°.
3. Unwrap and place chilled dough on a lightly floured surface. Roll dough into a 10-inch circle. Fit dough into a 9-inch pie plate. Freeze 15 minutes. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool.
4. To prepare filling, heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions; sauté 5 minutes or until tender. Add spinach; sauté 2 minutes.
5. Combine 1 cup milk and remaining ingredients in a bowl; stir well with a whisk. Stir in spinach mixture. Pour filling into crust. Bake at 350° for 35 minutes. Cut into 10 wedges.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 205

Fat: 12.9g (sat 6.8g,mono 4.3g,poly 0.8g)

Protein: 7.3g

Carbohydrate: 15.4g

Fiber: 1.1g

Cholesterol: 113mg

Iron: 1.5mg

Sodium: 405mg

Calcium: 120mg

Jalepeno, Sausage and Egg Braid

Breakfast is hard. You don't want cereal but it takes too long to make eggs and you want something quick and easy.  We've made this maybe 5 or 6 times in 2 months because it makes 6 servings, you can make it ahead of time, reheat and grab n' go.  Plus we LOVE spicy.  We add a little extra spice to this to make it hotter.

Be sure to get the 13.5 ounce size refrigerated dough. We've used whole wheat pizza dough before as well and it tastes the same (still great).  This time I accidentally bought the 11 oz can of dough which is why this looks so small in the picture.  You can also use egg beaters in place of eggs if you're worried about cholesterol.  If you don't like spicy, you could try and experiment; get chicken and apple sausage and Gruyere cheese and throw in some thyme.

As of today's post, 16 people rated this an average of 5 out of 5!

I hope you enjoy this in your home as much as we do in ours!

Recipe by Angela Spengler, Cooking Light January 2010

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1 slice)

Ingredients

• 1  (13.8-ounce) can refrigerated pizza crust dough
• Cooking spray
• 1  tablespoon  olive oil
• 1/4  cup  chopped onion
• 4  ounces  chicken sausage with jalapeño peppers, chopped
• 2  large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2  cup  (2 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 1/4  cup  shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/4  cup  chopped seeded jalapeño peppers
• 1  large egg white, lightly beaten

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 425°.

2. Unroll dough onto a baking sheet coated with cooking spray; pat into a 15 x 10–inch rectangle.

3. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and sausage; cook 9 minutes or until lightly browned. Stir in eggs; cook 1 1/2 minutes or until set. Remove from heat.

4. Sprinkle Monterey Jack lengthwise down center of dough, leaving about a 2 1/2-inch border on each side. Spoon egg mixture evenly over cheese. Sprinkle cheddar over egg mixture; top with jalapeño peppers.

5. Make 2-inch-long diagonal cuts about 1 inch apart on both sides of dough to within 1/2 inch of filling using a sharp knife or kitchen shears. Arrange strips over filling, alternating strips diagonally over filling. Press ends under to seal. Brush with egg white. Bake at 425° for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes. Cut crosswise into slices.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

164

Fat:

10.4g (sat 4.2g,mono 4.4g,poly 1g)

Protein:

10.6g

Carbohydrate:

7.3g

Fiber:

0.1g

Cholesterol:

98mg

Iron:

0.8mg

Sodium:

344mg

Calcium:

115mg