Veggie Quiche with a Hashbrown Crust

I’ve considered going vegan a few times.  For one thing, it’s probably a lot cheaper.  I mean, a quality block of cheese is easily twenty dollars.  For another, a lot of animals ARE treated in cruel and unusual ways just to make it easier to collect their products in bulk.  And I know that you can get your protein from plant sources, I’m just not ready to make the jump yet.  I just barely got myself to like spinach, and lentils are still kinda yuck.  Maybe one day I’ll go full vegan, but not yet.

That being said, this recipe is about the furthest from vegan you can get – a hashbrown-crusted quiche.

I’ve only made this once, and next time I’m going to do a couple things differently (browning the hashbrowns first, cooking it a little longer), but overall I’m pretty pleased with how this turned out.  It’s got veggies, it’s got protein, it’s filling – pretty much everything you could ask for in a breakfast.  The only thing it isn’t is photogenic.  At least not for me.  Maybe you could use your fancier camera and your home studio with its flashy lighting and make it look better.

There aren’t really any tricky things to making this, so I don’t see much point in writing an involved post.  I mean, you know how to stir things, right?  And hopefully cut up veggies?  And brown some hash?  (haha…)

Instead, I’m going to share my [really-not-at-all] pro tip with you: always pre-cut your veggies.

I’ve started doing this and it makes cooking so much easier.  I’ll get home from the store, throw Stormageddon in his chair with some finger foods, and get chopping.  It’s a bit of up-front work, but it makes cooking so much easier because instead of “if I want to eat [that] I’ll have to chop [this] first so why don’t I just eat a bowl of cereal” you can say, “hey, I want [that].  I’ll just throw in these pre-cut veggies!”  Instant meal.  And you eat more veggies.  And for an added added bonus, the inside of your fridge will look like it belongs to an actual grown-up, which is very satisfying, if misleading.

Enough of this gay banter (imagine that said in a John Cleese voice).  Now it’s time for something (short pause) completely different.

The Larch.

Not really.  The Recipe.  Sorry, for some reason I’m really feeling the “Flying Circus” vibes today.

Veggie Quiche with Hashbrown Crust

Frozen hashbrowns Cooking oil Salt Pepper

Butter Flour Eggs Cream cheese Milk Sugar Baking Powder

Mushrooms Spinach Broccoli Green onion Yellow onion Bell pepper Cheddar cheese

Pre-heat the oven to 400° F

Line the bottom of a 13x9 pan with frozen hashbrowns

Add 2 Tb oil, salt and pepper to taste

Mix it all around – that’s what it’s all about

Throw your hashbrown mix into the pre-heated oven for about 15 minutes

               

While the ‘browns are cooking, mix 6 Tb butter with ½ C flour, then set aside

In another bowl, mix 6 eggs, 8 oz cream cheese, 1 C milk, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar, and 1 tsp baking powder

Add the flour mix to the egg mix and stir until, well, mixed…

Add your pre-cut veggies!  I used 1 C mushrooms, 1 C spinach, 1 C broccoli, 1/8 C green onion, ¼ C yellow onion, ½ C Bell Pepper (orange), and 1 C cheddar cheese (cubed).  Mix well.

When your hashbrowns are ready, pull them out of the oven and pour the egg mix on top.

Bake at 400° F for 50 minutes uncovered.  You’ll know it’s done if it feels kind of spongey when you slice through it.

Enjoy!

*If I did this again I would probably fry up the hashbrowns before throwing them in the 13x9; that way they’re nice and crunchy