Savoury Mediterranean Pie

I am the first to admit that pastry is my baking nemesis.  Don't get me wrong, I love pie and even make some pretty delicious fillings.  But, I just can't seem to get pastry right; it falls apart, or it's too sticky, or it's crumbly, or it's tough.  I'm pretty sure that after each failed attempt I over compensate the next time, which results in the next pastry fail.  And so I'm completely reliant on my husband (or anyone else that happens to be around) to make pastry for me.

Yesterday morning my husband made me pastry for two, two crusted pies.  Hooray!  I'd been putting off making pies for a couple of weeks, and finally we found an opportunity for pastry making.  Funnily enough, I might as well have made the pastry myself in the end.  It was a very rare baking failure for him and was too fragile to roll.  Let's blame it on the humidity.  I forged ahead anyhow, hand pressing it together for the bottom crust, and doing my best to piece together the top crust.  My pies looked... rustic.  Sure... let's go with that!

By the time I was done I had two delicious pies cooling on the counter, and looking both odd and delicious at the same time.  The first was a tart and sweet pie with rhubarb fresh from the garden, and a tried and true Betty Crocker recipe.  The second was a savoury and quiche-like recipe that my mom has been making since I was a little kid.  Since I daresay it'll be a while before I attempt pastry again, this seems like the perfect time to share my favourite Sunday lunch - Mediterranean Pie.

Mediterranean Pie

Pastry for a two crust pie (uncooked)
8 oz Black Forest ham, thinly sliced
4-6 slices Swiss Cheese
1 tbsp butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 bag fresh spinach
1 red or yellow pepper
4 eggs

1.  Preheat oven to 375F.
2.  Lay bottom pastry in pie plate, and place ham over it in an even layer.  Top with cheese.
2.  In a frying pan, melt butter.  Sauté garlic and onion until onion is translucent.
4.  Add spinach to frying pan, and toss until wilted.  Transfer spinach to pie plate, in an even layer over the ham and cheese.
5.  Thinly slice red pepper and place in an even layer over the spinach.
6.  Lightly beat eggs, and pour over peppers.  Top with pie crust, cutting slits for steam to escape.

6.  Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until pastry is lightly browned. 

Serve warm; salad makes a great side.

Cross-section - lots of yumminess between two crusts!

Today, happily there was leftover Mediterranean Pie for lunch, and rhubarb pie for dessert after supper!  A delicious treat on both counts!

Simple Kitchen Sink Quiche

When I’m home with the kids our daily routine sometimes seems to revolve around food – breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner – and everything else needs to fit into the gaps.  With the responsibility of nourishing small, growing people my own eating habits have definitely shifted.  I eat more fruits and vegetables, fewer processed foods, and certainly eat more regularly than I once did. 

Since my return to work some additional changes in my eating patterns have been necessary.  On a work day, I’ve generally finished my breakfast by 5:30 (as opposed to the leisurely 8:00 I enjoy when at home).  With nearly six hours between breakfast and lunch, a morning snack is more of a necessity than ever!  And, let’s call a spade a spade; because my morning is so long, my morning snack is more like a small meal than a quick bite.  With that in mind, I’ve been trying to make sure my morning snack is a) enjoyable, b) varied from day to day, and c) packs a nutritional punch.

This morning I snapped a picture of my morning snack since it was looking so good, and thought I’d share the recipe!  This quiche can be whatever you want it to be; mine changes every time based on what I have in the fridge and want to use up!  It’s simple and quick to make, can help to reduce food wastage, and as I’ve learned this week makes a great snack or meal for young children and mamas alike!

Simple Crustless Kitchen Sink Quiche

Simple Crustless Kitchen Sink Quiche

4 eggs
1c 2% milk
1c self raising flour
1 medium zucchini*
2-3c of other veggies, meat and cheese, finely chopped or grated** 

1.        Preheat oven to 350F, and grease a casserole dish or baking pan (approx 10” square).

2.       Grate zucchini and combine with other finely chopped or grated ingredients.

3.       Add self rising flour and mix well.

4.       In a small bowl, whisk eggs and milk.

5.       Add eggs and milk to zucchini mixture and stir until just combined.

6.       Transfer to prepared pan and bake until firm in the middle and lightly browned around the edges; approximately 40 minutes.  Time will vary based on size of pan and thickness of quiche. 

* Grated zucchini is a key ingredient for this dish – it gives the quiche its final texture and helps hold it together.  I do not recommend omitting zucchini from this recipe.
** You can plan this quiche (e.g. broccoli and cheese), or use it as a kitchen sink dish to use up odds and ends in your fridge like I do.  The quiche pictured contains – 1 zucchini, 1 carrot, 1 seeded tomato, 2 green onions, handful of leftover cooked broccoli and corn, cheddar cheese and peameal bacon.

To dress your quiche up, consider laying asparagus spears or tomato slices on the top before baking.  A quick spray with a non-stick cooking spray or oil atomizer will also help brown the top.

Little Smiling Man and I have been enjoying this quiche for a couple of days now.  It’s quick and easy to add to his dinner, and he really seems to enjoy it.  Plus, it's firm enough for little fingers to pick up easily, yet still soft enough to be easily eaten before any molars come in.  I’ve had it both as a packed lunch with a side of spinach, or on its own as a snack.  It holds its shape well, and reheats nicely, so it’s a great work day dish!

Enjoy!

Creamy Cauliflower (fake potato) Salad

Confession time - I have never really liked potato salad.  I'll pause to let the gasps die down and this tidbit settle in.  It's not that I don't like the taste, it's more a texture thing with boiled potatoes for me.  Sometimes the store bought varieties are okay, but let's face it, who knows what's in those!

Last weekend when we fired up the bbq, the thought of potato salad came back.  My husband has been eyeing it up in the grocery store, and now that we're grilling again I know it's high on his cravings list.  Luckily, I was recently chatting with a  mommy friend about kids and veggies, and she mentioned that the only way she could get her family to eat cauliflower was via a mock potato salad recipe.  And with that, the seed was planted and the hunt for a delicious recipe was on!

I must say, the first few recipes I came across did not appeal to me.  Lots of ingredients and they looked too complex to make while distracted by kidlets running amuck.  Then, I found the recipe below at Buns in My Oven, and had to give it a try.   

Creamy Cauliflower (fake potato) Salad

1 head cauliflower
2 hard boiled eggs
1/3 c mayo
1 tbsp prepared yellow mustard
1 tbsp relish
2 tsp finely chopped onions
1 tsp dill
1 tsp chives
1 tsp white vinegar
1/2 tsp each salt and pepper

1.  Prepare cauliflower by washing and cutting into bite sized (or slightly smaller) pieces.
2.  Steam until tender crisp, then refrigerate. 
3.  Combine chopped hard boiled eggs and cauliflower.
4.  Combine remaining ingredients and fold into cauliflower and egg mixture.
5.  Chill and serve.

What drew me to this recipe was the comment that it tastes like potato salad, but has a slightly different texture.  Perfect for me, and I can confirm 100% true!  I love this salad, and there were no tweaks required from the original recipe (other than that I used dried dill instead of fresh because it was what I had on hand).  The best part is that I feel good about feeding it to my family.  It's a great side for a sandwich, a burger, or to take on a picnic.  And, it's a great way to get a little more cauliflower into your diet.  Enjoy, and happy grilling! 

Pepper and Feta Mini Quiches

I recently tried a recipe from a fun baby food site I came across - Baby FoodE (http://www.babyfoode.com). I expected to find a nice easy recipe for Little Smiling Man. Instead, I found a nice easy recipe for the whole family!

Pepper and Feta Mini Quiches 

Pepper and Feta Mini Quiches

1/4 c each diced red, yellow and green peppers
4 eggs
1/4 c plain yogurt
2 tbsp breadcrumbs
1 tsp dried thyme
2 tbsp crumbled feta

1. Preheat oven to 350F, and grease muffin tin (or mini muffin tin)
2. Whisk first five ingredients together.
3. Fill muffin tins about 3/4 full.
4. Sprinkle with feta.
5. Bake 20-25 minutes until set and browned around edges.

(The original recipe is here.)

I wanted to share this recipe as I've made it twice in as many weeks! Little Smiling Man enjoys them, Mini Muffin doesn't know what she's missing since she refuses to taste them, and my mom asked me for the recipe after we all enjoyed them for our Boxing Day breakfast. Not a bad wrap sheet!

A few notes -

1. I have used both regular and mini muffin tins for this recipe. It made 18 mini muffins or 8 regular sized muffins. We all agreed that the texture was much nicer for the regular muffin size, so while convenient for Little Smiling Man, I will stick with my regular muffin tin from here on.
2. I love the texture that the yogurt gives these quiches, and it couldn't be easier to add a creamy component. Why did I not think of this?
3. These quiches are super quick and easy. The longest part (aside from baking) was chopping the peppers. Easy peasy!
4. I really enjoy these warm, or even straight out of the fridge. When I'm chasing a toddler and a very active baby who loves to explore, they make a great snack to keep me going. They also transport well for an on the go finger food for littles.

And there you have it. I hope you enjoy these tasty gems; we certainly do!

Simpy Delicious - Special Banana Pancakes

I'm all about an easy dinner after a busy Friday!  So, yesterday I drew on one of my tried and true toddler dinners - "Special Banana Pancakes".

These pancakes came about when Mini Muffin was about nine months old.  I was desperately trying to find some form of protein that she would actually eat, aside from milk.  Eggs seemed like a reasonable alternative to the meat she refused, but she really didn't take to them.  So, I came up with her very own special banana pancakes - banana mashed with egg and cooked in a bit of butter like a pancake.  She LOVED them from the get go, and to this day she'll gobble down two eggs in one sitting!

Now, I thought I was being all novel and inventive coming up with these pancakes.  However, I soon came across a banana egg scramble variation on an online community.  Then, I received an email from Self magazine touting gluten free pancakes... which were essentially my recipe with a bit of baking soda!  So, I must concede, they are not what you would call novel, but they are what I would call a quick, easy and awesome way to get egg into a baby or toddler!

And, the 'recipe' -

Special Banana Pancakes

1 very ripe banana (well mashed)
2 eggs

1.  Scramble eggs and combine with banana.
2.  Melt a small amount of butter in a frying pan. 
3.  When butter is bubbly, drop batter into pan.  I suggest pancakes be on the small side (one spoonful per pancake) because they can be a bit tricky to turn.  Flip when reasonably set.

We serve these plain - the banana flavour comes through strongly and makes them sweet so they really don't need anything!  They also reheat fairly well, so I try to make a bit extra for a quick and easy snack the next day.  Enjoy!