Courtesy of Chef Oonagh Williams of Gluten-Free Cooking with Oonagh

For this gluten-free quiche recipe, the spinach mix can be poured into a partially cooked gluten-free pie crust or cooked on its own in a pie plate without a pie crust to be served as a frittata, or even a vegetable side dish. I tend to bake it without a crust in an 8 x 8” Pyrex dish. Also, you can cook the mix in regular muffin pans for a portable breakfast or lunch, or in mini muffin pans for parties. I’ve mixed up the recipe with cooked broccoli and feta cheese.

Make sure to point out the tomatoes aren’t bacon. Some people won’t believe you!

Ingredients:

• 1 recipe of partially baked, gluten-free pie crust.-optional
• 1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 2-4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 Tbsp. (30ml) olive oil (or butter if you want)
• 10 oz. (300g) container/block of frozen chopped spinach (not leaf spinach), thawed and squeezed dry. Or roughly half of 16 oz. bag of frozen chopped loose spinach
• 1/3 cup (2 oz, 56 g) sundried tomatoes in oil, cut into small pieces
• 3 extra large eggs or 4 large eggs. Or 2 eggs and 1/2 cup gluten-free liquid egg substitute
• 1 cup (8 fl oz, 250 ml) half and half or cream (I really notice the difference between half and half and cream in the finished quiche. But, I found that if you mix in 1 Tbsp. (15 ml) gluten-free cornstarch/corn flour to cooked vegetables and add just half and half or even fat-free half and half, it cooked to the creamy texture of heavy cream but with significantly less calories.)
• Salt and pepper
• ½ cup (2 oz, 50 g) shredded Swiss cheese
• ½ cup (2 oz, 50 g) shredded smoked Gouda or use 1 cup total of Swiss cheese or strong cheddar (Please use a strong cheese, mild cheddar doesn’t add any flavor.)
• ¼ cup finely chopped fresh parsley (optional)
• ¼ cup fresh basil (optional)

Directions:

1. Put onion in an 8 cup non-stick pan and add olive oil or 2 Tbsp. oil from the sundried tomato container. Cook onions for about 10 minutes until they are very soft and starting to turn gold but not burning.
2. Add garlic, spinach and sundried tomatoes and cook gently, covered, for about 10 minutes. I found it was important to have plenty of onion and to cook spinach for enough time before putting in quiche, otherwise the quiche had a raw flavor.
3. Lightly beat eggs, pour cream into spinach mix to cool slightly, add eggs and cheese mix with salt and pepper, and herbs if desired.
4. Pour into partially baked pie crust, place on metal baking sheet and bake in preheated 350* oven for 30-45 minutes until the custard is set and the quiche is browning around the edges. There is no need to cook the quiche until it rises like a cake and is brown all over. Think of it as a custard that just needs sufficient cooking to set the eggs and remain creamy. Cooked at a higher temperature it will have consistency of overcooked scrambled eggs. Cooked until it rises like a cake produces a dry quiche.
5. Remove from oven, allow to cool for about 10 minutes (it will deflate) and serve warm or at room temperature, not cold from fridge.

Options: You can leave out sundried tomatoes. I didn’t find adding roasted red pepper added significantly to the flavor. Cooked spinach works just as much on your body as spinach salad.