quiche | Delightful-Delicious-Delovely

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2015

To see images of my past posts & get links to the recipes – look on my Pinterest board – HERE.

This quiche is very dense with the vegan sausage – and it was quite tasty! I bet if you told someone it was egg whites rather than tofu – you could fool a bunch of folks. You might not want so much sausage in yours and – if that is true – just use more broccoli to make up the gap.

Vegan Sausage, Broccoli & Cheese Quiche with Tofu & Fried Sage

INGREDIENTS

1 lb extra firm tofu

14 oz vegan sausage (I used Lightlife Gimme Lean)

1/2 large onion – diced

1 small head broccoli – chopped

1 jalapeno – seeded & diced (optional)

3 (or more) slices cheese of your choice (I used Field Roast Chao Tomato Cayenne)

10-15 sage leaves

1 vegan pie crust

5-10 cherry tomatoes – quartered

Olive oil

S&P

DIRECTIONS

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Heat 1 TBS olive oil to a pan & flash fry (just a minute or so) – the sage – being sure not to burn it (see above photo). Drain on paper towels.

Heat 1-2 TBS olive oil in a large frying pan & brown the sausage. Add the onion & saute a few minutes & then add the broccoli & saute until the broccoli is softened.

In a blender or food processor – pulse the tofu, jalapeno, cheese, fried sage & some S&P until well blended. Add this to the sausage & broccoli & mix well.

Press the crust into a pan & fill with the sausage etc. Crinkle the edges – if you care to – and top with tomato pieces.

Bake for 25-35 minutes or until the crust is nice & golden. My oven heats unevenly – hence the unevenly cooked crust.

Let it sit 10 minutes before cutting into it.

Devour!

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2015

Follow @celisemccarthy

To see images of my past posts & get links to the recipes – look on my Pinterest board – HERE.

I have never been a huge quiche fan. Sure – I’ll eat it – but I will eat most things if they are my only option. I became even less charmed with quiche when I made a few & realized that they really are not mostly egg – but rather – are mostly heavy cream. They are as rich & decadent as ice cream and, frankly, I’d rather eat a tub of sour cream with spring onion powdered mix in it & gorge on an entire bag of reduced fat Ruffles.

So – I recently discovered the charms of tofu masquerading as egg whites & I am very pleased. I made Vegan Tofu Scramble Breakfast Burrito with Mixed Vegetables & Cheese & Vegan Tofu Chilaquiles with 5-Minute Vegan Nacho Cheese Sauce – seen below, respectively.

And, when I am working, I scramble a quarter of a block of tofu with S&P and some spinach or veggie sausage & wrap it in an 80 calorie tortilla & dip it is salsa & call it breakfast. Every. Single. Day. I am now completely off eggs.

So – I thought – why not make a tofu quiche? Cruelty-free & way less rich than a traditional quiche. I used chard & spinach & vegan cheese in mine but you can adapt this to reflect whatever quiche ingredients you prefer. A little veggie sausage would be nice.

I used 5 slices of this Field Roast Chao cheese – below.

I really, really like that cheese – in all three flavors. The texture is believable & it tastes yummy. I pulsed mine into the tofu so that it might melt more effectively and, no matter what kind of cheese you use – I recommend this method.

The real secret to a delicious-looking quiche is the depth of it – so be sure to pack yours with ingredients. I could have added sausage or other veggies – like broccoli – to this & it would still have fit into the crust – so err on the side of too much stuff in the crust rather than too little.

Vegan Tofu Quiche with Chard, Spinach & Cheese

INGREDIENTS

1 prepared vegan pie crust

1 lb extra firm tofu

1 head chard – hard ribs removed – chopped

2 cups fresh spinach – chopped

1/2 onion – diced

1/2 red bell pepper – diced

1 carrot – diced

5 slices of vegan cheese (or 1/2 cup or more of your cheese selection)

2 TBS tahini (optional)

1 TBS miso (optional)

1 tsp Dijon mustard

2 TBS fresh basil – minced

Olive oil

Smoked (or other) paprika

5-10 cherry tomatoes – halved

S&P

DIRECTIONS

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Press the crust into a pie pan.

Heat 1-2 TBS olive oil in a large saute pan. saute the onion, carrot & red pepper until soft. Add the chard & spinach & basil & saute until the greens wilt. Season with S&P. Set aside.

In a blender or food processor – pulse the tofu & cheese together with the Dijon and the miso & tahini (if using). Season with S&P. Add to the vegetable mixture & combine.

Pour into the crust & sprinkle with paprika. Arrange the tomatoes on top. Pinch your crust edges – if you like. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until the crust is browned to your taste.

Let sit 10 minutes & serve.