Feeling French... Healthy Quiche

I was feeling very French on Sunday -- went out for brunch at a crepe restaurant (smoked salmon with creme fresh and chives -- delicious!), spent the entire day shopping for dainty lady clothes, and then made quiche for dinner.  I'm also going to see Les Miserables next week  :-)

I call this quiche "healthy" because I use 2% milk instead of the usual heavy cream.  It also contains vegetables, and uses a butter-free crust that only has 2 tbsp. oil in the entire crust -- in the world of quiche, I think this is pretty good, and it tastes just as luxurious.

Mushroom and Onion Quiche

4 eggs, beaten

2 c. milk

1/2 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

dash of cayenne

1 c. shredded swiss cheese

6-8 mushrooms, sliced

1 onion, sliced thin

1/2 tsp. fresh thyme

olive oil

1/2 recipe, butterless pie crust

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F, and par-bake the pie crust (arrange pie crust in greased pie pan, and pierce crust thoroughly with fork before baking).  Bake crust until partly cooked, but not brown.

Saute onions, mushrooms, and thyme in olive oil until soft.  Add salt,  pepper, and nutmeg to taste.

Mix together first 5 ingredients in a bowl.  Sprinkle cheese in bottom of par-baked crust (this prevents the crust from getting soggy).  Layer the cooked mushrooms and onions on top of cheese, then slowly pour in egg mixture.  Bake at 425 degrees F for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees F and cook 30 minutes longer.  When done, eggs will have puffed up slightly, and knife inserted in center will come out clean.

Other possible flavors besides mushroom and onion would be steamed broccoli, crispy bacon, spinach, arugula, roasted red peppers, goat cheese, chives, cheddar... there are a lot of options, and all of them are good, so definitely experiment to see what you like -- just make sure all ingredients are cooked before being added to the quiche.  I love quiche, especially alongside a crisp green salad with a tart, mustardy vinaigrette.