Crustless Kale Quiche

Talk about a tongue twister!  It’s worth the effort to say, and the little bit to make, because this Crustless Kale Quiche hits the spot.

I’ve only made this once … and I’ve already eaten almost half of it.  The kale adds a little bitterness and chew to what would otherwise be a run-of-the-mill spinach pie.  Nutmeg, currants, and pepitas add an almost sweet, Middle Eastern flavor profile.  The three eggs are just enough to combine the ingredients without becoming heavy or custardy like a regular spinach quiche.  Don’t get me wrong – a traditional spinach and swiss cheese quiche is wonderful, but this one is lighter, with an unexpected combination of flavors that will have you craving it again.

I ate this hot, and I ate it cold, cut right out of the fridge.  I ate this with a big slab of goat cheese on top and I ate it plain.  I’m going to eat more of it with dinner tonight and see if I can’t discover some new way to enjoy it.  If you want your greens, with a little extra zing, try this instead of a salad tonight!

Crustless Kale Quiche

Ingredients:

• 1 pound bag of frozen chopped spinach
• 1 large bunch of kale
• 3/4 cup pepitas (or try pine nuts or sunflower seeds)
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil (or butter) plus more for greasing the pie plate
• 1 teaspoon chopped garlic (about 2 cloves)
• 1/2 cup currants or raisins (next time I’m trying golden raisins!)
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 eggs
• Goat cheese, to serve, if desired

Directions:

1. Wash the kale and remove from the stem, tearing it into smaller-than-bite-sized pieces.  Saute on medium heat in a large pot with a lid.  Don’t add any extra water or oil – just the damp kale by itself.  Stir occasionally until it gets soft, about 15 minutes.  When it appears soft and has reduced in volume, pour in the bag of frozen spinach.  Stir to combine and replace the lid.  Cook on medium-low for another five minutes until the spinach is thawed.  Remove from the heat and let cool.
2. Preheat the oven to 350*F.  While the spinach and kale are cooling, heat the coconut oil over medium and add the pepitas.  Stir frequently for 5 minutes, then add the garlic and currants.  Stir for another 3 minutes.
3. Squeeze out as much water from the kale mixture as possible, then dump it into a large bowl.  Pour over the pepita mixture and combine.  Add nutmeg and salt.
4. Beat 3 eggs well and mix into kale mixture.  Grease a pie plate, then fill with the kale mixture.  Smooth it down so you have a flat top.  Bake for 35 minutes or until not wet in the middle.  Serve warm or cold, with goat cheese or without.

Roasted Red Pepper Aioli

… or as it’s known at my house—Magic Sauce!  This recipe for Roasted Red Pepper Aioli is easy to whip up at a moment’s notice, and is infinitely customizable.  Like it spicy?  Add some hot sauce of your choice, or a spoonful of adobo sauce from a jar of chipotle peppers.   Depending on my mood and what else I have laying around, this aioli also gets a few shakes of smoked paprika, or a half a teaspoon of ground cumin.  Mix it up in your blender, taste it, and then see where you want to take it.

We eat this on roasted asparagus.  My husband dips steamed broccoli in it.  I love it on oven-roasted sweet potato fries.  And it’s the best sandwich spread in the world!  Try it in place of regular mayonnaise on your next turkey sandwich or veggie wrap and you’ll ditch that jar of Miracle Whip for good!

Roasted Red Pepper Aioli

Ingredients:

• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup roasted red peppers from a jar, drained and patted dry (or roast your own!)
• juice of half a lemon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt or more to taste
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise (make your own!  Or use store-bought, but not low-fat mayo)
• optional:  paprika, cumin, hot sauce

Directions:

1. In a blender or small food processor, blend together the garlic, red pepper, lemon juice and salt until almost smooth.  Add the mayonnaise and optional ingredients and blend again.  Keep refrigerated.

Chicken with Hollandaise

If it were my last day on Earth, I would have something with hollandaise for every meal.  My Mom made a dish called Chicken Falbrook, which was a pan-fried chicken breast with hollandaise sauce and sliced avocado.  It was rich and delicious, my first encounter with hollandaise sauce, and it was love at first bite!  Unfortunately, making hollandaise can be tricky - I remember Mom stirring and stirring the sauce over a double-boiler, fingers crossed that it wouldn't curdle.  Needless to say, we only ate it on special occasions, since the sauce was so finicky.

My Mom never learned the greatest innovation in French sauce technology:  Julia Child's Blender Hollandaise!  What a revelation!  No more double-boiler, no more whisking and praying!  Once I discovered it online, I searched for Mom's recipe, but couldn't find it.  Chicken Falbrook is nowhere to be found in Mom's cookbooks or online, so I'm guessing it's something she and my Dad had at a restaurant, and she reverse-engineered it at home.  In any case, Julia, Mom and I have collaborated to make the richest, most delicious, and easiest Chicken with Hollandaise ever.  I always serve it with steamed broccoli, because broccoli and hollandaise are a treat in themselves.  Asparagus would also be great - use fresh and steam it til it's just tender.

Chicken with Hollandaise

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup flour
•  oil for sautéing
• 1 1/2 pound broccoli
• 1 stick butter
• 3 teaspoons lemon juice
• 2 egg yolks
• pinch cayenne pepper (optional)
• 1 avocado

Directions

1. Place each breast between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound down to 3/8-inch thickness.  Season with salt and pepper and dredge in flour.  In a large sauté pan over medium heat, add the oil, and brown chicken on one side, for about 10 minutes.  Lower the heat to medium-low and brown the other side, about 8 minutes.  Remove chicken from heat and keep warm on a plate under a tent of foil.
2. Meanwhile, steam the broccoli - I always do this in the microwave.  Keep warm.
3. In the microwave, melt the butter.  You want it hot and liquid!  In a blender or food processor, blend the egg yolks, lemon juice and cayenne pepper for 30 seconds.  Then add a tiny bit of the melted butter, blend for ten seconds, and repeat, adding the butter in a thin stream, or a bit at a time, and blending in between additions.  When all the butter has been added, blend for 20 seconds.
4. To serve, pour a generous amount of hollandaise on the chicken breast, top with 1/4 avocado, sliced, and  a side of broccoli.  Try not to lick the plate when you're done!

Randomly French Chicken

One of the best money-saving kitchen skills to learn is how to cut up a whole chicken. Up until 3 months ago, I had never done it. It seemed like too difficult a task, with too little reward. Then I saw an episode of "America's Test Kitchen" on PBS that featured a skillet-roasted chicken recipe (which is delicious, and which will probably end up here later on.) I've posted the link to that video here because the first four minutes are an excellent tutorial on how to part a chicken. Go ahead and watch it, I'll wait.

... Done? Okay, now you can buy whole chickens, which are always cheaper than those already cut up in the grocery store. What's more, you get what's left of the chicken once you take off the legs and breasts. It may not look like much, but it can be the basis for an entirely new meal! (See the recipe below for "Enchilasagna", and others, to be posted in the future.)

This recipe, which I'm calling "Randomly French Chicken", is an amalgam of a few different recipes. The technique is French, and calls for tomatoes, onions, and olives, as well as either white or red wine for braising the chicken and veggies. There is a lot of wiggle room as far as what else you want to add in. 8 oz. of sliced mushrooms would be great, making for more of a cacciatore approach, while the red peppers I used in this incarnation is more of a Basque presentation. You can add either chopped parsley or basil (like I did) to punch up the flavor a little more. Bon appetit!

Randomly French Chicken

Ingredients:

• Vegetable oil or butter, or a combination of the two, about 2 tablespoons
• 1 whole chicken, cut into 2 leg pieces and 2 breast pieces (so you have 4 pieces total)
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 - 2 cups red or white wine (I prefer white)
• 14 oz. can of diced tomatoes
• 14 oz. can of black olives, or about a cup of Kalamata olives, if you have them
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley or basil

Directions:

1. In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat butter / oil combo over medium heat, and when very hot, add the chicken pieces, skin-side down. This WILL splatter - I suggest a metal splatter guard. Cook for approximately 8 minutes, until browned. Remove from pot to a plate, cover with foil, and set aside.

2. To the pot, add the onion and garlic. Keep them moving so nothing burns. When the garlic starts taking on color, add the wine and deglaze the pan, scraping up all the stuck-on bits of chicken.

3. Add the tomatoes, olives and peppers to the pan, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for a few minutes. Now take the chicken pieces and nestle them in among the veggies, skin-side up. Cover and turn the heat down to medium-low, keeping it at a high simmer.

4. Depending on how hot and conductive your pan is, check on the chicken every 10 minutes, stirring and adjusting the heat as necessary so nothing burns. If it looks too dry, add more wine. After about 30 minutes, using a meat thermometer, check for doneness. The thigh of the chicken should be at least 170F.

5. When your chicken is done, stir in the chopped parsley or basil, check again for seasoning, and serve.

The chicken would do well with rice or noodles to soak up the yummy sauce. This is one of those great recipes that is actually better the next day, so try not to eat it all at once!