Quinoa & Kale Crustless Quiche
November’s Recipe Redux topic is whole grains and this quinoa quiche recipe is dedicated to my Mom. Today we celebrated her 71st birthday with a delicious brunch, and one of the highlights of the feast was my Quinoa and Kale Crustless Quiche (another was the chocolate and vanilla frozen custard cake…yum!).
My mom makes an awesome spinach quiche (we call it spinach pie) that is super tasty, if not a little “decadent” — the cheese, butter, eggs and spinach are housed in a pastry pie crust. I thought it would be fun to reinvent her classic dish with a few healthy alterations.
To keep with the whole grain theme, I used quinoa, which is a gluten-free whole grain that’s high in fiber and protein, and what really gives this dish staying power. I used kale, which is a nutrition powerhouse and also kind of trendy right now…don’t you see it everywhere? I also used a few egg whites and Cabot reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese and reduced fat Feta cheese. And of course, there is no crust. But we didn’t miss it. In fact, when I asked my mom how she liked the quiche, she said “the crust was great.”
Below is the recipe for my version of quinoa quiche. I adapted if from a Food 52 “Best Greens Dish” contest winner to make it a bit more healthy.
Enjoy!
Quinoa & Kale Crustless Quiche
Ingredients
- 1 cup cooked quinoa
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 bunch Kale chopped and stems removed (frozen kale would work great here!)
- 1 Vidalia onion thinly sliced
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- ½ cup Cabot reduced fat white cheddar cheese
- ½ cup reduced fat feta cheese
- 3 whole eggs 6 egg whites
- dash nutmeg
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 and prepare a 9″ pie dish with butter or baking spray. Cook quinoa according to package directions. Set aside.
- Slice onion thinly (I used my food processor). Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan on medium heat. Add the sliced onions and slowly cook until they’re soft and browned. This will take about 35 minutes. Once golden brown, remove onions from pan, and place in a large mixing bowl.
- Clean and chop kale and add to the onion pan; cook until kale is wilted and bright green, 2-5 minutes.
- Add the cooked kale, cooked quinoa, garlic, and cheeses to the mixing bowl. Stir the ingredients until evenly distributed.
- In a small bowl, whisk the eggs and whites so they are well combined. Pour eggs over the quinoa/kale mixture. Stir until the egg clings to the greens. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle top with nutmeg.
- Pour mixture in the prepared pie dish. Bake for about 45 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the pie has started to pull away from the edge of the baking dish. Serve hot or at room temp.
