I’ve never been a big fan of quiche because of the eggy and heavy taste.  But after having brunch at a French eatery, I realized that quiches don’t have to be eggy or fatty.  So Deniz and I created this delicious and easy to make quiche that is lower in fat than normal quiches and not so eggy in taste.  It was so tasty, we documented the recipe and have made it many times since.

Makes 2 quiches.

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Fusion Veggie Quiche with Feta

We created this delicious and easy to make quiche that is lower in fat than normal quiches and not so eggy in taste.

Servings 2 quiches

Ingredients

Ingredients:

• 2 pre-made deep dish pie crusts in a pie tin thawed for 10 minutes and holes poked into it with a fork.
• 3 Morningstar Brand Original Vegetarian Sausage Patties
• 1 small onion diced
• 1 small red pepper diced
• 2 large carrots peeled and diced
• 1 small head of broccoli broken into florets and then diced
• 1 block extra firm tofu
• 1 T cooking oil
• 2 T water
• 5 oz feta cheese crumbled
• 1 t salt
• 1/2 t pepper
• 1/4 t nutmeg
• 4 eggs beaten

Instructions

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Prepare Ingredients as described above in the Ingredients list.
• Bake pre-made crusts in the oven for 11 minutes or per package directions until slightly browned. Also place the veggie sausage patties into the oven at the same time on tin foil and bake for 13 minutes.
• Take crust and veggie patties out of oven and reduce the heat to 350°F.
• Heat cooking oil on medium high heat in large saucepan.  Add diced veggies in the following order:  carrots, onions, pepper, broccoli.  Allow to cook for 2 minutes.  Add water.  Cover and cook on high until steam comes out of the slides of the pan/lid, approximately 7 minutes.  Turn the heat off and let stand for 10 minutes with the cover still on.  Drain any remaining water.   Add 1/2 t salt and mix to combine.  Remove to a large mixing bowl and allow to cool.
• Crumble the extra firm tofu using a fork until it is the consistency of scrambled eggs.  Add to the bowl of veggies and mix to combine.
• Break the sausage patties into pieces using a fork until they are a small ground beef consistency.  Add 1/2 t salt and mix to combine.  Add to the bowl of veggies/tofu and mix to combine.
• Add the pepper, beaten eggs, and 1/4 of the feta cheese to the bowl of veggies and sausage patties.  Mix the bowl ingredients to combine.
• Scoop the veggie-sausage-egg mixture into the baked pie crust. Add the remaining crumbled feta cheese to the top.  Place into the oven and bake for about 45 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and quiche is set.

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French Mushroom and Lentil Bourguignon over Smashed Potatoes

The elegant savory dish that made want to use wine in cooking more!

Ingredients

• 5 large Portobello caps cut into large chunks
• 1/2 c French lentils
• 12 baby potatoes thin skin
• 1 T corn starch
• ¼ c parsley chopped, for garnish

Vegetable base

• 3 T olive oil
• 2 small yellow onions cut into large chunks, do not separate the chunks
• 7 medium carrots cut into large chunks
• 6 ribs celery quartered (cut in half and sliced lengthwise)
• 1 oz dried porcini mushrooms
• 5 sprigs of thyme stems removed
• 2 bay leaves
• juice of ½ lemon
• 1 t sugar
• 1 t salt
• 1 T tomato paste
• 2 Knorr vegetable bullion cubes
• 2 c dry wed wine pinot noir
• 3 c water

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Bake the baby potatoes for 25 minutes and allow them to cool.
• Prepare the vegetables as described above.
• Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.  Sweat the onions in the oil for 5 minutes.
• Add the rest of the Vegetable Base ingredients into the pot and bring to a simmer.  Reduce heat, cover and continue cooking for 1 hour.  Add the french lentils.  Continue cooking ½ hr.  Monitor occasionally to ensure that there is enough water in the pot to serve as a sauce at the end.  Add additional water if needed.  After the stew is done cooking, take out the celery stalks and bay leaves.
• Liberally season the mushrooms with salt and pepper to taste.  Heat 4 T of butter in a very large sauce pan on medium high and sear the mushroom chunks until nicely browned.  Remove the mushrooms and put them in the Vegetable Base after cooking has been completed.
• Mix the corn starch with 4 T of water to dissolve.  Add to the Vegetable Base, stir to combine, and heat the Vegetable Base until the liquid becomes saucy.
• With a bottom of a frying pan, smash the baked potatoes hard enough to flatten them.  Heat ¼ c of cooking oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat.  Fry the smashed potatoes about 3 minutes per side.  Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.
• Serve the Vegetable bean sauce over the smashed potatoes.  Garnish with parsley.

Ingredients:

5 large Portobello caps, cut into large chunks

1/2 c French lentils

12 baby potatoes (thin skin)

1 T corn starch

¼ c parsley, chopped, for garnish

Vegetable base:

• 3 T olive oil
• 2 small yellow onions, cut into large chunks, do not separate the chunks
• 7 medium carrots, cut into large chunks
• 6 ribs celery, quartered (cut in half and sliced lengthwise)
• 1 oz dried porcini mushrooms
• 5 sprigs of thyme, stems removed
• 2 bay leaves
• juice of ½ lemon
• 1 t sugar
• 1 t salt
• 1 T tomato paste
• 2 Knorr vegetable bullion cubes
• 2 c dry wed wine (pinot noir)
• 3 c water

Directions: 

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Bake the baby potatoes for 25 minutes and allow them to cool.

Prepare the vegetables as described above.

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.  Sweat the onions in the oil for 5 minutes.

Add the rest of the Vegetable Base ingredients into the pot and bring to a simmer.  Reduce heat, cover and continue cooking for 1 hour.  Add the french lentils.  Continue cooking ½ hr.  Monitor occasionally to ensure that there is enough water in the pot to serve as a sauce at the end.  Add additional water if needed.  After the stew is done cooking, take out the celery stalks and bay leaves.

Liberally season the mushrooms with salt and pepper to taste.  Heat 4 T of butter in a very large sauce pan on medium high and sear the mushroom chunks until nicely browned.  Remove the mushrooms and put them in the Vegetable Base after cooking has been completed.

Mix the corn starch with 4 T of water to dissolve.  Add to the Vegetable Base, stir to combine, and heat the Vegetable Base until the liquid becomes saucy.

With a bottom of a frying pan, smash the baked potatoes hard enough to flatten them.  Heat ¼ c of cooking oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat.  Fry the smashed potatoes about 3 minutes per side.  Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.

Serve the Vegetable bean sauce over the smashed potatoes.  Garnish with parsley.

The word musakka almost always refers to eggplant musakka, at least where I came from. It was surprising to see a cauliflower musakka in this Turkish cookbook we found on Amazon (Sultan’s Kitchen). We already had most of the ingredients at home, it would be mistake not to try this dish!

Ingredients

• 1 large cauliflower
• 8 MorningStar Sausage Patties
• 1 T tomato paste

Cooking Oil:

• 2 T unsalted butter
• 2 T olive oil

Onion & Garlic:

• 1 onion, diced (¾ cup)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced

Rest of the Ingredients:

• 2 green bell peppers,seeded, thinly sliced
• 2 tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and finely chopped
• ½ t ground red pepper (we use ½ t Aleppo pepper mixed with a pinch of cayenne)
• 2 T dill, finely chopped
• ¼ c Italian parsley, finely chopped
• 1 c stock (hot water mixed with 3 Knorr vegetable bouillon cube)
• 1 t salt
• 1 t pepper

Instructions

Cut cauliflower into florets. Blanch the florets in a hot boiling water for 4 minutes. Immediately drain, and put in ice cold water. Drain, and set aside.

Toast the sausage patties in toaster oven 15 minutes at 450°F. Turn them into ground beef by pulsing in a food processor.

In a big pan (or a sauce pan) melt and mix the Cooking Oil over medium heat. Add Onion & Garlic, cook until soft without browning for about 2 minutes.

Stir in the tomato paste. Add the cauliflower florets, stir for few seconds, then add the Rest of the ingredients.

Bring the mixture to boil, reduce heat to simmer for 45 minutes covered.

There should be just enough water to be used as sauce in the pot. Add the meat the last.

Sprinkle with lemon juice when serving.

Deniz and I saw our tagine sitting on the shelf gathering dust this week and suddenly got a hankering for Moroccan food.  Below is a modified fusion of recipes we found on BBC and Epicurous recipe for Vegetable Tagine and Harissa.  It’s got that perfect balance of sweet, tangy, salty, and exotic Mediterranean spices.

Tangine Ingredients:

• 400g shallots, peeled and cut in half
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 red peppers, deseeded and cut into chunks
• 1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained (optional)

Squash mix:

• 1 medium butternut squash (about 2½ lb), peeled, deseeded and cut into bite size chunks
• 1 t ground cinnamon
• ½ t ground ginger

Tangine Sauce

• 2 c strong veggie broth (2 Knorr vegetarian bouillon cubes dissolved in 2 cups of boiling water)
• 14 large pitted prunes, each cut into six even pieces
• 2 t honey

Tagine Garnish

• 3 T cilantro, chopped
• 2 T mint, chopped

Couscous Ingredients:

• 500g couscous (approx 2¾ c)
• 1 red pepper
• 1½ t tomato paste
• 2 T lemon juice
• 1½ T salt

Harissa dry spice mix:

• 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp caraway seeds
• pinch of red pepper flakes

Harissa wet spice mix

• 3 T olive oil
• 1 small sweet onion, coarsely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped

Tagine Instruction:  

Prepare the ingredients as described in the ingredients list.  Combine the Squash Mix ingredients in a large bowl.  Combine the Tagine Sauce ingredients in a medium bowl.  Combine the Tagine Garnish in a small bowl.

Fry the shallots in the oil for 5 mins until they are softening and browned. Add the Squash Mix, and stir for 1 min. Add the Tangine Sauce. Cover and simmer for 8 mins.

Add the peppers and optional chickpeas and cook for 8-10 mins until tender. Stir in the Tagine Garnish.  

Couscous Instruction:

Place the red pepper under a broiler, turning occasionally for about 30 minutes until the skin is blackened and the pepper is soft. Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to cool. Peel the pepper and discard its skin and seeds.

Prepare the ingredients as described in the ingredients list. Combine the Harissa Dry Spice Mix ingredients in a medium sauce pan.  Combine the Harissa Wet Spice Mix ingredients in a small bowl.

Pour 1 L boiling water over the couscous in a bowl. Cover and leave for 5 mins. Fluff up with a fork.

Heat a dry frying pan over low heat and lightly toast the Harissa Dry Spice Mix for 2 minutes. Grin the mix to a powder using a mortar and pestle.

Heat the frying pan over medium heat, and fry the Harissa Wet Spice Mix for 10 to 12 minutes, until it is a dark smoky color and almost fully caramelized.

Blend the dry-fried Harissa Dry Spice Mix, fried Harissa Dry Spice Mix and remaining couscous ingredients (except for the couscous) together until smooth.  Mix this completed salty Harissa into the couscous until completely coated.  Add olive oil to the flavored couscous to taste.

Serve the Tagine on top of the seasoned couscous.