Crustless Quiche using homegrown Swiss Chard

Crustless Chard Quiche 

There's something wonderful about quiches, they fit perfectly as a meal for any time of the day - be it breakfast, lunch or dinner. The only thing that probably deters people from making this is the mess (well, a little) of making and blind baking the crust and the quantity of butter that goes into it and the thought of burning all that butter off the next day on the treadmill. Well, may be that's just me but yes, if the crust is eliminated, the quiche becomes healthy, quick while still tasting delicious. It's also a great way to use up spinach, mushrooms, corn and bits of any cheese you may have in the refrigerator. 

Freshly plucked swiss chard

I used chard because they were just plucked that evening, all fresh and luscious green, you could by all means use spinach, or a combination of other greens and add any other lightly sautéed vegetables like zucchini or bell peppers to this. A spinach quiche is also the best way to make kids eat their greens up without much fuss.

Recipe for Crustless chard quiche 

Adapted from a recipe on Food.com

Serves 2-4

Ingredients

1 tsp olive oil

3 cups of roughly chopped chard (include tender stalks too) or spinach

1 medium onion, sliced

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

3 medium sized eggs

3/4 cup milk 

1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs

1/2 cup cheese (grated or crumbled, as per the cheese used. I used fresh mozzarella, crumbled)

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 tsp ground pepper

Handful of fresh herbs, finely chopped or 1 tbsp dried herbs (Oregano and thyme)

Directions

1. Preheat oven at 180C. Grease a 6" pie dish or a baking tin.
2. In a pan, heat olive oil. Add the sliced onions and garlic, lightly saute for 3-4 minutes on medium flame, until onions are soft. 
3. Add the chard or spinach and saute for 2-3 minutes until just wilted.
4. In a bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, salt, pepper, herbs well and add the crumbled cheese.
5. Transfer the chard mix from the pan into the bowl and mix with a fork.
6. Pour into the greased pie dish. Top with bread crumbs, more freshly ground black pepper and dried herbs and bake for 20-25 minutes until a knife comes out clean.

Serve with a salad for a light lunch. 

Crumbled feta pairs well with spinach and it's a classic combination in Greek cuisine. 

You can easily scale up the recipe and bake in a bigger dish with increased baking times. Leftovers make great breakfast, just microwave for 30 seconds or so before serving.

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Eggplant salad with spicy greens - From garden to plate

Brinjal Blooms - I like these more than the vegetable :)

There are people  you love at first sight and you can't wait to know them more and spend more time with them. Then there are others who you can't decide about. But you wouldn't mind meeting them once in a while. And finally, the third type, whom you dislike right from the world go, but funnily when you keep running into them and get to know them better, they grow on you and you wonder how you ever disliked them in the first place. My relationship with eggplant / brinjal / kathrikkai is exactly of the third type.

As a child, this was the one vegetable I had exemption from as it would make my throat itch whenever I ate it and I promptly declared to my family that I had a brinjal allergy. The fact that I disliked this vegetable, made me convince myself and others even more vehemently that I was allergic to this one. The reverse also happens. When you like something, you are very hesitant to admit that you are allergic to it, especially if the allergy is a mild one. For example, walnuts give me a slight itch in the throat, but that has never made me refuse a walnut brownie, ever!

So coming back to my relationship with eggplants, I first forayed into the world of roasted eggplant recipes like Bhartha ( I make a mean one), Baba Ganoush (always a star in the Mezze platter) and Kathrikkai Pachidi.

Then came the other entries like Brinjal in Sambar, Rasavaangi (this is a most delightful Tambram recipe with freshly ground coconut based masala) and Yenna Kathrikkai. And now, I am eating this vegetable, sliced and lightly grilled on a stove top grill pan in salads! And totally surprising myself with that.

Brinjal was the first to get planted in our terrace vegetable garden and was the first to flower and fruit. My dad even mocks me that people who come to your house for lunch with get Brinjal curry with Brinjal Sambar and Brinjal Pachidi. (Recipe follows)

I'm not one to go to such extremes though. I pluck off those ready for harvest and if i am not cooking with them, I pass it on to friends or relatives who can enjoy home grown, fresh, organic bounty. There's something about slicing a just plucked tender eggplant, thinly slicing it and placing it on a grill pan greased with olive oil. A minute per side, you get these lovely grill marks and they are done. Ready to be tossed into a salad or had as a starter with some pesto on it. I do the same with long slices of zucchini. 

Salad Patch

Growing spicy salad greens like arugula (rocket), mustard etc. (Spicy salad mix from Burpee seeds thanks to Nupur) has made me realise how lettuce is the most boring, tasteless of all salad greens. Especially the wilted stuff served in most restaurants. Every leaf in this mix has a bold taste, spicy, pungent, bitter - each of them come with a personality. 

I make this salad for my dinner at least twice a week. To make it heartier and more filling, add some boiled chick peas / grilled tofu / grilled chicken / paneer / cooked whole wheat pasta to the salad before tossing. 

Dressing - Red Wine Vinaigrette

4 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp Coleman's mustard paste

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp sugar

3 small cloves of garlic - finely grated or mashed to a paste

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground pepper

1 fresh red chilli deseeded and finely chopped (or green)

Add all the above to a small empty jam jar, shake it up and keep aside.

For the salad

3 small eggplants or half a large eggplant

1 medium cucumber, thick slices into half rounds

2 cups mixed salad greens, washed and dried, torn roughly

1 small red onion, finely sliced (optional)

Add any of the extras given above if you want to have this as a meal.

Handful of mixed fresh herbs like basil, oregano, thyme, sage

Slice the eggplants thinly, not necessarily paper thin. Keep a stove top grill pan on heat. Brush with some olive oil. Arrange the slices in a layer. After one minute you'll see grill marks on the heated side. With a pair of tongs turn all the slices to grill and cook the other side.

Remove onto a plate. Sprinkle a pinch of salt over the slices.

In a large bowl, combine the grilled slices with cucumber, torn salad greens and onion.

Give the jam jar one final shake and pour over the salad just before serving, reserving a few spoonfuls to drizzle over the top just before eating.

This makes one big salad or for 2-3 people as a starter to a meal.

Bangalore Shopping guide

Red Wine Vinegar from Nilgiri's Whitefield

Good quality Mixed salad greens at Namdhari's

Excellent fresh herbs at Namdhari's

Stove top grill pan - I have the Premier brand but there are quite a few in the market nowadays. If you don't have a grill pan, by all means use the Tava for this.

Coleman's mustard - Most supermarkets

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