1...2...3...Quiche!

Quiche is an extremely easy dish to make. It's wonderful because you can put almost anything in a quiche, and it ends up tasting great. Thus, a quiche is an excellent way to clean out the refrigerator, use up leftovers, or stretch that one last carrot or head of broccoli or onion that's about to go bad and that you somehow have to make a meal out of because you have nothing else left in the house. Quiche is also so incredibly versatile in that you can eat it for breakfast, lunch, brunch, dinner, supper, or even a late night snack! It can be served hot, cold, warm, or room temperature, and the leftovers are just as good as when you made it!

The best thing about quiche, however, is that it's as easy as 1...2...3...

1. CRUST
Make your own if you'd like - any traditional pie crust will do. Or you could be adventurous and make one out of vegetables or crushed nuts, lay down some leftover pasta, or even just put down some cheese. I'd like to experiment with making different types of crust, but I haven't gotten to that yet (along with about a thousand other things). Rest assured that when I do, I'll detail my exploits on here for you. When I'm in a pinch, which is usually the case, I'll just pick up a decent brand of pre-made frozen pie crust that I know is good (I often go with a deep-dish pie, because I love having extra crust to munch on, but both will work). The crust we used for this quiche was Loving Boyfriend's fine apple pie crust. I simply had him make an extra crust when he made apple pie this weekend, and kept it in the fridge until I needed it.

2. FILLING
Here, the possibilities are endless. First order of business, though, is the cheese. Any kind of cheese will do. Put a layer of grated cheese down first on the bottom of the crust. As it melts, the cheese seals the crust from excess moisture from your ingredients and keeps it from getting soggy. Then, on with the goodies: if you have hard vegetables (carrots, white onions, peppers, etc.), then you can saute them gently in olive oil beforehand. I also saute spinach, and garlic before I use them also, but just lightly. You could also use meats like prosciutto, or bacon, or even fish. Layer your goodies on top of your cheese, filling up the pie crust, and throw some fresh herbs (or things like nutmeg, paprika, etc.) on top. The particular quiche above had mozzarella, leeks, green garlic, spinach, slices of plum tomato, portabello mushroom, prosciutto, and fresh sage...basically leftovers from pizza on Friday with a few extras picked up at the Farmer's Market this Saturday.

3. CUSTARD
Once you've filled up your pie crust with goodies, it's time to add the custard that holds everything together in one luscious, creamy, eggy package. Here's how easy it is: beat together 3 whole eggs (or use the equivalent in egg whites, if you're watching your cholesterol) and 1 cup of milk (whatever kind of milk you use is fine; but do know that it will be richer and creamier with the more milkfat there is). Dump this gently over of the filling, dust with a little paprika if you'd like, and pop it in the oven at 375F for 35-40 minutes, or until the custard has set completely. That's it! You can make it a day or so ahead if you'd like, because it still tastes just as good. Serve it still warm, at room temperature or cold, whichever is your preference. I like mine room temperature or slightly warm.

Now you can make yourself quiche anytime, and it's so easy that you don't even need a recipe, so let those creative juices flow! One note: quiche is especially nice on a sunny, Spring day. Especially when it is the first sunny Spring day of the whole year after months and months and months of Oregon rain. Enjoy!