Gluten-free Summer Quiche 

Ingredients:

Crust:

• 2 cups almonds or almond flour
• 1 cup walnuts or walnut flour
• 3-4 T butter, or you can substitute 1/2 of the butter with low-fat/non-fat yoghurt if you are trying to cut fat

Filling:

• 1 summer squash
• 1 head kale
• 1 onion
• 6 cremini mushrooms
• 6 eggs
• 1 cup half and half, or nut milk of your choice for a dairy free version (I like hazelnut myself)
• 2-4 cloves garlic, depending on your garlic needs
• 1/4 salt
• 1/4 ground pepper
• olive oil for sautéing
• optional, fresh chèvre

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Now let’s get the crust ready. I am lucky enough to have a high powered blender that rocks with breaking nuts up into fine particles. If you have a food processor, blender, or coffee grinder that can grind up nuts, then I highly recommend just buying bulk nuts for your nut crust.

Add 2 cups almonds and  1 cup walnuts to the blender and blend until fine, yet a bit chunky.

Place the nut ‘flour’ into a mixing bowl, and add the butter.  Lightly Mix them together with a fork or your clean hands.  Gently grease a pie plate with some butter, and then press the crust into the plate, covering the bottom and the edges of the pie plate.  Set aside while you work on the filling.

To start on the filling, we will need to prepare from of the veggies for sautéing. Slice the onion in half, and then each half into 1/4 slices. Set aside. Slice the mushrooms into 1/4 inch thick slices and set aside. Rinse and slice the kale into 1/4 inch ribbons and set aside.

Slice the summer squash into 1/4 inch circles and set aside.

Now you are ready to start sautéing. Add the onions to a sauté pan with 1 T of olive oil over medium low heat and stir occasionally for about 2 minutes, until the onions begin to carmelize.
Add the mushrooms, and continue to sauté for another 1-2 minutes. As the mushrooms absorb the oil, you may need to add another tablespoon of olive oil, or add 2 tablespoons of water if you are trying to keep the fat content down.After 2 minutes, add the summer squash and sauté for an additional 3 minutes.

You can begin to layer your sautéed ingredients into the nut crust.

I like to layer the onions and mushrooms on the bottom, then add the uncooked kale, and set the squash medallions aside for the very end.

Now we need to make our egg filling.

In a mixing bowl, crack 6 eggs. Add 1 cup half and half, or if you are dairy free, your favorite nut milk. Whisk it all together. Whisk wildly. Whisk until everything is mixed thoroughly into a smooth, creamy mixture. Add a pinch of salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper. Whisk again, because whisking is fun.

Now pour the egg mixture over the veggies in the pie pan.

Finish by placing the squash medallions in an enjoyable pattern on top.

If you are dairy free, then you are ready to bake. If you are not dairy free, then consider adding a few tablespoon-sized dollops of fresh chèvre in a circle around your quiche.

Then put in the oven and bake for 40-50 minutes at 375 F. The quiche will be done when a knife or toothpick inserted into the eggy part of the quiche comes out clean.

Dairy Free/Gluten Free Summer Quiche

Gluten Free Summer Quiche with Chèvre

Sweet Corn Salad

Ingredients:

• 4 ears sweet corn
• 1 bunch basil
• 6 small tomatoes, or a pint of cherry tomatoes, or 3 large heirloom tomatoes
• 3-5 T fresh chèvre
• 1 T olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• juice of 1/2 lime

Directions:

Place water in a steamer and bring to a boil on the stove. Shuck the corn cobs, cut in half and place in the steamer. Steam for 5 -10 minutes, until the corn turns bright yellow and can easily be pierced with a fork.

Remove the corn from heat and run under cool water. When the corn is easy to handle, slice the kernels off of the cob and place in a mixing bowl.

Slice the tomatoes into small chunks. I used an small heirloom variety that is larger than a cherry tomato, so I needed six tomatoes. I sliced them in half and then each half into three pieces. If using cherry tomatoes, you only need to slice them in half.  Once chopped up to your desired size, place ’em in with the corn.

Now roughly chop your basil.  I like a lot of basil, so my bunch held about 12 leaves. Add the roughly chopped basil to your salad, and now add the 1 T of olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste. If you are using heirloom tomatoes, then their sweetness will bring a lot of flavor to the dish.  I enjoy the blend of flavors between fresh sweet corn, heirloom tomatoes, and basil without a lot of extra flavor, so I just add a bit of oil, salt and pepper. You can add up to a T of your favorite vinegar, if you want to change up the flavor profile. Balsamic, apple cider or red wine vinegar could be excellent choices.   Then to finish the salad, use a fork and fork in some chèvre to the salad, or use the chèvre as a garnish after you dish up each bowl of salad. Serve and enjoy.