Can you Quiche Quiche?

Quiche is definitely one of those easy and versatile dishes, after all most ingredients taste lovely wrapped in a blanket of eggs and cheese! With all this great weather, the first thing I did was load up on fresh veggies to grill and realize a few days later, I had cooked up way too many for any one person to eat and not turn into one themselves.

Using my standard recipe, I made a yummy easy lunch creation:

- Preheat oven to 425 F and grease a pie dish liberally
- Cut the crusts off of 5 pieces of whole wheat sandwich bread and lay down on the bottom of the pie dish
- Pile on the grilled veggies (sliced and seasoned with olive oil, balsamic, salt and pepper, then grilled until cooked through and slightly charred)
- Add a cup of grated cheese - for this is just used the regular old parmesan cheese out of a can and it worked great!
- Beat 4 whole, large eggs really well with 2 tbls of low fat milk. Pour over the veggies and cheese

- Bake for 35-45 min until set and browning on top, allow to cool for 10 min before serving

And Voila!

Chef's notes: for meat lovers, bacon, onion and chedder cheese makes a great alternative; for an asian flavor, use sauteed, shredded carrots, red cabbage, green onions in sesame oil and a bit of rice vinegar, and use chopped cilantro instead of the cheese.

Workout Queen's Pescado al Vapor

Howdy workout fanatics...You'll find that this recipe, like most that I post, isn't the most intricate, detailed, or HARD recipe. This fish dish is a very common Mexican plate, is economical, tasty and EASY (which I'm WAY into, given my schedule).

Pescado al Vapor really means Vaporized Fish aka Steamed fish. And let me tell you, just like marinating chicken and meats beforehand, cooking any dish al vapor really helps the seasonings soak in and actually cooks the protein that your making. It is also SUPER healthy and there is no need for oil/butter or anything but the protein to cook this. Let's take a look at the ingredients.

Ingredients:

• piece of aluminium foil big enough for your fish
• 1/4 pound of white fish (call Cochito, here in Mexico), but any white/flouder type will do
• 1/2 red pepper
• about 7 mushrooms
• seasoned salt
• adobo
• Cumin
  
• salt
• pepper
• garlic powder

Keep in mind, the seasonings can be changed and varied to your liking. Those are my frequently used spices, cause they're yummy.

Procedure:

1. Thaw your fish if it isn't already fresh. Season it on both sides.
2. Cut your veggies, and spice them as well. Place them to the side temporarily.
3. Get the aluminium foil and tear a piece that is about 2 times the size of the actual piece of fish.
4. Place the fish in the middle of the aluminium.
5. Add the veggies on top of the fish.
6. Gently close the foil, bringing the two sides to fold together above the fish, not touching it. (You are basically wrapping it without it touching. So all sides need to be closed)
7. Place the wrapped fish in a pan. Place the pan on the stove.
   
8. Cook for approximately 15 minutes.
   
9. Serve and enjoy!

The cooking part isn't pretty, cause your magnificent dish is wrapped in foil, but the taste is simply delightful because it is steaming inside.

As I mentioned, Pescado al Vapor is very common here in Mexico, as is most meats al vapor. Typically, in a nice restaurant, you'll order a dish al vapor and they'll unwrap the ugly foil in front of you at the table - for PROOF that it was actually cooked this way. When you steam your food, your fish and veggies soak up all the moisture, which is really what makes the food juicy. This is a great meal to simply bring to work and reheat, because it is already packaged in lovely foil wrapping. Or you can eat it right after it is prepared. When your schedule is tight and you're on the run, remember that you can al vapor just about any protein and it is sure to come out delicious. Let me know how yours turns out! Happy cooking and keep on being HEALTHY!!

MEATBALL CHALLENGE! fourth entry

Super Italian / Juicy-as-HELL / Better-Than-Dave Meatballs

Ingredients:

• 1 package of Gimme Lean ground tofu
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup minced fresh flat leaf parsley
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup toasted almond slivers
  
• 1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup grated parm cheese
• 1/4 cup cream
• 1 large egg
• 1 to 2 tsp salt
• 1 to 2 tsp pepper
• 2 to 3 tsp chili powder
• 2 dashes of nutmeg
• 2 dashes of garlic powder
  
• 1/2 to 1 cup panko bread crumbs

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375f
2. Spray 9x13 or larger baking dish with non stick spray
   
3. In a small bowl beat egg and cream together (omit cream if you are using real meat)
   
4. In a large bowl add and mix thoroughly the meat, almonds, all cheeses, salt, pepper, parsley, nutmeg, and chili powder
5. Mix together egg/cream mixture into the meat mixture
6. Add breadcrumbs half at a time until main mixture is able to form peaks and hold its shape
7. Using your hands scoop out golf ball size amounts of mix and roll into ball and place in your greased baking dish
8. Cover with foil and bake for 15-20 minutes
9. Remove foil and bake for another 5-10 minutes
10. Serve hot ;-)

Commentary:
I make pretty damn good turkey meatballs, but havent be able to make them in ages....coughcough. These meatballs are BANGIN!! I was so impressed with myself!! The only veggie meatballs I have had have been made by dave and mine are better. daves are good, but mine are better! Its totally the ricotta cheese and the cream. I was inspired to try those two ingredients from a few Italian style cooking shows on the Food Network. I am glad I gave it a shot b/c now I make veggie meatballs like the ones I used to make :-). I encourage EVERYONE to give this recipe a try. I used the larger amounts of pepper and chili powder to give it an extra kick. I think adding minced jalpeno to this would be a good replacement to the chili powder.

To go with them, I made a simple pasta casserole and an even simpler cucumber side salad.

Hope yall enjoy!