organic veggie quiche

A few weeks ago, I made this for a baby shower at work. Several folks asked for the recipe, so here goes.

You can make quiche with a variety of strongly flavored cheeses, including: sharp cheddar, gruyere, goat cheese, and French feta (the higher butterfat/ lower salt content makes French a better feta than Greek, Bulgarian, etc. for melting purposes; if using feta, reduce salt slightly). Traditional quiche recipes call for heavy cream, half-and-half, or light cream; I use 1% milk to reduce calories and cholesterol. Variations on this include spinach and onion quiche, broccoli and red onion quiche, chopped celery and leek quiche, etc. To save time, you can use leftover vegetables that have been sauteed in olive oil or butter. Just be sure to add some onion, garlic, or leeks for flavor.

Prep / cooking time: 20/40 minutes
Yield: Two 9-inch quiches, about 16 servings

Ingredients
1 1/2 lbs organic Swiss chard
1/2 lb beet greens (These lend a mild sweetness and a fun pink color to the mix. They may stain your cutting board.)
1 1/2 TBSP garlic, finely chopped OR 3/4 cup chopped onion
1 TBSP butter or olive oil (I prefer the butter for a richer-tasting quiche)
2 piecrusts (I use Trader Joe's piecrusts because they don't have the heavy taste of lard in them)
1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar, shredded
8 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
2 tsp salt, divided
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper, divided
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 400F.
2. Remove leafy green portion of chard and beet greens and chop roughly. Set aside. Chop stems into 1/2 to 3/4-inch pieces and keep separate from leaves.
   
3. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt butter. Saute onion and chard/ beet green stems until just translucent (about 3 minutes). Note: if using garlic instead of onion, omit onion in this step.
4. Add leafy greens and saute for another minute, then cover pan and let greens wilt for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. If using garlic, add garlic, stir into greens and saute with the lid off for another 2 minutes.
   
5. Add 1 tsp of salt and 1/4 tsp pepper and stir until seasoned. If very wet, move greens to the side of pan, tilt slightly, and press on the greens to remove excess juice, then spoon the greens out of the pan, leaving the excess juice behind.
6. Beat eggs, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, and nutmeg together until the eggs are well combined. Add milk and beat again until mixture is uniform in color and consistency.
7. Using a food processor on pulse setting, pulse the veggies until they are finely cut up (almost to the puree stage). Stir vegetables into egg mixture.
   
8. Place piecrusts in pie pans. Sprinkle 3/4 cup of cheese over mixture in each pan.
9. Pour egg mixture over filling. It should just cover the cheese, but a few bits may still be visible about the egg mixture.
   
10. Cook in 400F oven for 35 minutes or until filling is browned and set. When you take the quiche out of the oven, the filling will likely be puffed up, because you've essentially made a souffle with the eggs and milk. As it cools, the eggs will settle and become more dense. Let cool, and then enjoy. Refrigerate leftovers.