Secret Recipe Club: Spinach Ricotta Quiche with Quinoa Crust

It's secret recipe club time again. Awesome. I get so much enjoyment out of seeing what everyone else posts every Monday. I find so many amazing recipes and it forces me to be creative. It helps so much when I'm not feeling inspired (which has been happening a lot lately with 90 degree days and lots of wedding shit. So much wedding shit to do in the next 5 weeks).

This month's assigned blog was Debbie Does Dinner Healthy. Debbie is a Mom of 3 living in Minneapolis MN and is also the leader for Group C. Almost all of her recipes are low calorie while still looking so delicious. I knew this could be a perfect blog to pick up some guilt-free recipes.

There was only one problem with Debbie's blog: there were just too many options! I wanted the Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya. I wanted the Crockpot Chicken Mole and the Twice Baked Cauliflower. I ended up settling on the Quinoa Egg and Vegetable Bake (which wasn't really settling, since it's really an amazing sounding low calorie quiche)

I loved it and could have eaten the whole pan (correction: ate like half the pan over breakfast and lunch, but that's okay because the whole thing is only 1300 calories). It had the texture I wanted, allowed me to use up a lot of veggies in my csa box, and allowed me to use up some leftover egg whites I had after making ice cream. My fiance...not so much. He already doesn't like quinoa unless I mix it with ground beef/chorizo for stuffed peppers or squash. Give me thirty years of marriage and maybe I'll convert him.

I'd change a couple things for next time, but not much. First, I'd bake the crust for 10 minutes before putting in the egg mixture. I loved the crusty texture of the edges and wished it carried through for the entire dish. I would also cook the quinoa in chicken stock like I normally do (cuz then maybe the man would like it a little more)

Great dish Debbie! Not sure if this will make it into our regular breakfast rotation, but I know I'll make it when I have a weekend on my own.

Spinach Ricotta Quiche with Quinoa Crust

Ingredients for crust

• 2 cups cooked quinoa
• 2 egg whites
• 1 oz shredded cheddar cheese (about 1/4 cup)
• salt and pepper to taste

Ingredients for filling

• 3 whole eggs
• 3 egg whites
• 1/4 cup part skim ricotta cheese
• 1 extra large handful of fresh spinach (2 cups? about?)
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1/2 bell pepper, diced (I used green because that's what I had. Red would have been much nicer)
• 4 spears asparagus, sliced (not necessary, I just had some I needed to use)
• 1 oz shredded cheddar cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix cooked quinoa with egg white, cheese, salt and pepper. Press quinoa into sprayed 9 inch pie pan and push up the sides.
3. Sautee onions, peppers, asparagus and spinach until onions are slightly translucent and spinach is wilted.
4. Mix eggs, egg whites, ricotta cheese and cheddar cheese together. Add vegetables and mix.
5. Pour into quinoa crust. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes until cooked through
6. Let cool 5 minutes before slicing.

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