Sunday, January 24, 2010

Turkey, Cheese and Potato Quiche


I made my mom's hash brown quiche for my friend Kelly's baby shower. I made a few tweeks to make it a little healthier :)



Ham (Turkey), Cheese and Potato Quiche

24 oz package of frozen shredded hash browns, thawed
1/4 c. melted butter
6 eggs
1 cup half and half
1 tsp Lawry's seasoned salt
3 c. small cubed ham or turkey ham
2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1 c. Monterey Jack Cheese (or swiss cheese)

Mix hash browns and melted butter. Press into the bottom and up the sides of a 9x13 pan. Bake at 425 degrees for 25 min. Mix eggs, half and half, and salt. Mix ham (or turkey) and cheeses together and put on top of the cooked potatoes. Pour egg mixture over ham and cheese. Bake for 40 min.



Rebecca (just had a baby 4 months ago!), Kelly (prego with twins and looks this good) and me (the shirt makes me look more pregnant than I actually am!

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Vegetable Minestrone with Buckwheat (or quinoa)

I had this recipe hanging on my fridge for about 2 months and finally was in the mood to make it! Nothing like a good down pour of rain to put you in the mood for soup :)
As always, I made some changes to the original recipe from Clean Eating. I wrote in the changes I made, but I am sure either way will be delicious!



Ingredients

    I added Napa Cabbage and zuchinni to the veggies in the soup
    2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
    2 medium carrots, peeled, cut into 1/2" dice (about 1 cup)1 1 cup fennel
    1 cup red onion, diced
    2 lrg cloves garlic, finely chopped
    2 bay leaves (I didn't use these, just used an italian herb blend instead of the herbs here)
    2 tsp fresh thyme leaves, chopped (skipped)
    1/4 tsp fennel seeds, crushed (skipped)
    1 1/2 cups cooked cannellini beans (white kidney beans), rinsed and drained
    2 cups fresh plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and diced ( I used canned organic tomatoes that had garlic and basil in them)
    1/3 cup uncooked quinoa ( I actually didn't have quinoa and used buckwheat kernals instead. It will be good with either)
    kosher salt and ground black pepper to taste
    1 cup fresh spinach, cut chiffonade
    tbsp basil, thinly sliced
    2 oz. Parmesan cheese, finely grated (abt 1/2 cup), optional


Directions

In a lrg heavy bottomed pot, heat oil over medium heat.
Add carrots, cabbage, onion, garlic, bay leaves, thyme and fennel seeds, and cook, stirring often, until vegetables are tender, about 8 minutes.
Add 6 cups water, beans, tomatoes and quinoa.
Heat to boiling then reduce heat to low and simmer until quinoa is tender, about 20 minutes.
Remove bay leaves and season with salt and pepper.
Stir spinach and basil into soup just before serving in bowls.
Garnish each with 1 tbsp cheese, if desired.

Number of Servings: 8