In My Kitchen: Quinoa Quiche Bites & More

Just before the local produce started rolling in, I bought organic green leaf lettuce from the grocery store.  Look for yourself at how much greener one is than the other.  I am so glad the local produce is now available.  We had some of the best asparagus tonight - thank you Kellogg Valley Farms!  Be sure to hit the farmers markets this weekend.

I made quinoa quiche bites last night and we ate outside.  The fam loved them, and so did I.  This recipe was my inspiration.  I changed many of the ingredients and ratios...so I'll write below how I made them.  Quiche is really hard to mess up - make them with what you have on hand.  The quinoa added a bit of texture to otherwise squishy eggy quiche.  I really liked the texture addition.

I soaked 1 cup quinoa in water for 6-8 hours (until it sprouted), drained and rinsed it then cooked it 20 minutes in 1.5 cups of chicken broth.

In a large bowl, I combined quinoa with:

~1.5 cups of chopped ham

8 eggs

~1/4 c cream

chopped a bunch of green onions

chopped ~1 generous cup kale (wilted it in the quinoa while quinoa was hot.  This step isn't necessary.)

1 large carrot, grated

1/2 c grated cheddar (or more)

1 teaspoon salt

fresh cracked pepper - lots 

I sprayed regular sized muffin tins with olive oil then filled them level to the top of the pan.  Bake at 350 until the eggs look set.  I started checking at 30 minutes but they probably were in the oven more like 40 minutes.

Served with a green salad.

Shoppers Tip

I bought a box of 18 mangoes tonight for $10 at the Asian Market (next to Drug Emporium) on Reservoir.  Click here for how to cut them up.  Erin left a comment on that post saying, "I have to wear gloves when handling mango. Mangoes are in the same botanical family as poison ivy so the skin/peel contains urushiol, a skin irritant. I learned the hard way. :/ Still love to eat the flesh, though."

Just for bonus, here's a picture of my children in their Easter costumes.

-Julie