Am I talking about Thanksgiving already?
Under 4 weeks is fair game, if you ask me.
Or, if you read my blog.
Which, you do.
You can certainly make this Thanksgiving Bounty Veggie Crustless Quiche on other days, if you are in the mood! But Thanksgiving lends itself to lots of surplus cooked veggies, and probably some extra people in the house that would appreciate a healthy – and gorgeous – breakfast.
Like that.
Sweet potatoes, eggs, cheese, and TONS of veggies.
I had a panel of trusted friends over on Sunday to try out a few of my new recipes, and there were lots of eyes on this one. When it comes out of the oven, it’s all puffy and golden – worthy of oohs and ahhs.
This picture is good, but still does not do it justice.
If you have made my Kale & Egg Quiche with Sweet Potato “Crust,” you know that I am not talking about a carby pie-crust shell. The lining of this quiche is made of thinly-sliced sweet potatoes. You probably will have a few left over after your Thanksgiving prep; and if you have a food processor, using the slicing disk for prep will be, literally, a 10-second proposition.
Your veggies should all be cooked before they are mixed in to the quiche (whether they were cooked for another meal, or you cook them as you are prepping the quiche). For this particular quiche, everything was pre-cooked except for an onion and some zucchini I had available as leftovers from a no-noodle lasagna I tried out that day {recipe and post pending a few adjustments}, so I chopped and sautéed those up.
The pictured quiche includes as its stars leftover roasted asparagus, steamed green beans, sautéed mushrooms, and a few spoonfuls of creamed spinach (*may add gluten, depending on your recipe). Not bad for breakfast, right? You can add any veggies you have – maybe some peppers or broccoli from a crudite plate could have a little saute and make a nice addition. I aimed to make this quiche super-healthy, but a few spoonfuls of leftover casserole would probably go well here too, whether green bean, broccoli, or whatever your family demands annually.
That’s the beauty of leftovers: if you liked it the first time, chances are you will like it the next go-round as well.
- 2 medium to large sweet potatoes
- 2 c of cooked veggie leftovers (this may be twice as much when raw). Some options: onion, mushrooms, asparagus, green beans, spinach or creamed spinach, zucchini, roasted root vegetables, broccoli, peppers
- 4 eggs, or 3 whole eggs and 2 to 4 egg whites
- 1 c shredded cheese (maybe you have some leftovers from a cheese plate that you can shred?) Some options: monterrey jack, swiss, asiago, mozzarella
- big spoonful of herbed goat cheese
- kosher salt and freshly-ground pepper
- Heat the oven to 400.
- Peel the sweet potatoes, and using a food processor's slicing disc or a mandolin, slice as thinly as possible.
- In a glass pie dish, lay the sweet potatoes out in a circular pattern. Overlap the pieces so when it bakes and they shrink a little, they are still overlapping. You may not use all of the potato.
- Bake the sweet potato "crust" for 15 minutes at 400.
- After 15 minutes, remove the pan from the oven, and lower the heat to 375.
- But let's not get ahead of ourselves; while the potatoes are baking, prepare the filling.
- Chop any raw vegetables into bite-sized pieces and saute or steam them. Chop any leftover cooked veggies into bite-sized pieces as well.
- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs. Using a large spoon or spatula, stir in the cheeses, crumbling the goat cheese as you add it. Stir in the veggie mix, and stir again to distribute the eggs throughout. You probably won't need too much salt and pepper because the vegetables were seasoned the first time you cooked them, but if you want to add some, now is your chance.
- Pour the mix into the potato crust and smooth it out with the spoon/spatula to ensure it is evenly distributed.
- Bake for 30 minutes, or until the eggs are set (test if they are set by pressing down on the top of the quiche with a wooden spoon. No egg should leak out when you apply pressure).
- Serve hot, cold, or at room temperature, based on your quiche preferences.
Adapted from two of my recipes, Kale & Egg Quiche with Sweet Potato “Crust,” and Loaded Baked Potato Crustless Quiche.
Tell me what you think!