Friday, July 26, 2013

Bacon, Chard, and Leek Quiche

Anyone part of a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) group or visit the farmer's market often?  We're part of a CSA and really enjoy the challenge each week of using up the veggies they give us.  But sometimes you just get tired of finding recipes that use up your veggies - when we get lazy, we throw whatever vegetables that need to be eaten up into a stir fry or quiche. 
 
My favorite quiche recipe I want to share is by Paula Deen.  I've made it so many times that I've changed it a bit here and there.  I usually make it with bacon and spinach, but also add in some sauteed onions and garlic.  And I like to use a combo of sharp cheddar and swiss cheese in the dish.  
 
This week we had chard and leeks from the CSA to eat up, so I used them instead of spinach and onion, but still added garlic.  To get started, I fried up some bacon - then chopped it up and set it aside when it was done.  Then I used some of the bacon grease to sautee chopped garlic, leeks and chard stems - until they were soft.  

 Next, I layered chopped chard leaves, the bacon, the leek/garlic/chard stem mixture, and cheese into a pre-packaged pie crust.  I think the most important thing here is to do several thin layers of each item so the layers dont separate when you take your fork to a slice later.

Then I whipped up the cream and eggs and added some cracked pepper and kosher salt.  Sometimes I substitue half of the eggs for eggbeaters and use half-and-half instead of cream.  Not sure that it makes it any healthier though! 

Finally, I poured the cream and egg mixture into the layered quiche and put it in the oven.  Then I came back 45 minutes later to discover I had heated up the wrong oven and we were going to have to wait another 45 minutes for dinner.  I don't think I've ever cooked anything without screwing up at least once! 

Wish I took a better picture - the chard stems add some interesting pink color to the quiche.  We have a hard time choking down chard sometimes, but it was incredible in this quiche. The bacon and cheese probably deserve the credit.  Hope everyone is enjoying their summer veggies!


2 comments:

  1. Yum...is this the same recipe you made for me when Adelynn was born? I still remember that quiche...it was THAT memorable and delicious!! On a side note do you ever make frittatas? They are like crustless quiches and you dont have to bake them so they are ready in about 20 mins. Frittata pans make it easier but as long as you have two non stick frying pans about the same size you are good. Also you can make them pretty healthy by adding a bit a 1 or 2% milk to the eggs and then cheese...no cream or butter and they are so good. That's my go-to dinner about once a week to use up whatever veggies are past their prime! There are a couple recipes on my blog!

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    1. Yup, same quiche recipe I made back then. We've made frittatas before, but I miss the crust. They are much better though when cutting calories and still taste great.

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