I had yet to find a spinach quiche recipe that we really like, so I decided it was time for me to come up with one of my own. Most quiche recipes call for psyllium as a thickening agent in the filling, which gives it a slimey texture that Don and I don't particularly care for. Size was another issue, as a big quiche makes too much for the two of us. So I settled for mini-quiches instead.
These are, hands-down, my most delectable raw creations as of yet. We were both astounded at the result! The Mini-Quiches would also make fantastic finger foods for parties or potlucks.
Spinach Mini-Quiches
By Carmella Soleil
Crusts
I experimented with two different kinds of crusts as a base for the quiches. One is the ever-versatile calzone crust from
Alissa Cohen's 'Living on Live Food'. The other is also found in Alissa's book, and is the crust from
Elaina Love's Spinach Mushroom Quiche.
Crust #1 :
From the Spinach Mushroom Quiche recipe by
Elaina Love
3 medium sized yellow zucchini, chopped (about 3 cups)
2 teaspoons sea salt
1/2 cup olive or coconut oil/butter
1 cup flax meal (about 3/4 cup whole seeds, ground)
1 cup soaked almonds (about 1/2 cup before soaking for 8 hours)
1. Blend the zucchini, sea salt and oil until zucchini is smooth.
2. Add the almonds and continue to blend until the entire mixture is smooth. You may need to use a spatula or celery stick to get the mixture to blend.
3. Pour the blended mixture into a bowl and add the flax meal.
4. Here is where I deviated from the original recipe. Using a muffin pan lined with saran wrap, I formed the batter into mini crusts. I put about a couple of tbs of dough in one of the muffin cups. Then, spread it thinly with a wet spoon (makes it easier to work with) and my fingers, all along the bottom and 'walls'. After a few hours, once the outside shell was dry, I simply pulled on the saran wrap and gently turned the shells over onto the mesh to finish dehydrating.
If you'd rather go for larger sized quiche, just follow Elaina's original directions:
Shape into 4 pizza shaped crusts on dehydrator screens covered with Teflex sheets. Dehydrate the crusts at 105 degrees for 4 hours.
5. Remove the Teflex sheets and continue to dehydrate until the crusts are hard. It may take 8 or more hours altogether.
Crust #2: Calzone Dough
From
Alissa Cohen's 'Living on Live Food'
4 cups Sprouted Buckwheat
1 1/2 cups Soaked Flax Seeds
3/4 cups Olive Oil (1/4 cup works good!)
1 1/2 cups Carrots
2 Cloves Garlic
1 teaspoons Curry
1 teaspoons Rosemary
1 teaspoons Thyme
2 teaspoons Sea Salt
Grind the carrots in food processor. Add in rest of ingredients and blend well until reach dough-like consistency. Mold the dough in muffin pans lined with saran wrap, as described above. Dehydrate for a few hours, and then gently turn onto the mesh to allow for the bottom of the shells to dry.
Carmella's Notes: I halved the recipe as it makes quite a lot of dough. Alternatively, you could make the whole thing and shape whatever excess dough into pizza crusts or make them all into mini shells and freeze them.
For a detailed step-by-step description on to how to shape the mini-shells, complete with photos, see
this post. You may also want to check out
this post, for a better view of the actual shells.
Quiche Fillings
I also tried a couple of different quiche fillings. One is adapted from on
RawGuru's Kale Patties recipe. The other is a recipe I've come up with.
Filling #1: Spinach Almond Filling
2-3 cups spinach (I also used a little collard but you don't have to)
1/2 cup fresh herbs (parsley, dill, or cilantro)
1 clove fresh garlic
2 tbs. almond butter
5 tbs. almond pulp, from making almond milk
1 fresh tomato
1/2 teaspoon Himalayan Crystal Salt
A few mushrooms marinated in a little oil and tamari, Nama Shoyu, Braggs or salt, chopped up
Place the almond butter and tomato in a food processor. Process until mixed. Add in the rest of the ingredients (except for the mushrooms). Taste the filling mixture and adjust seasonings.
Put some marinated mushrooms at the bottom of the shell crusts. Pour filling mixture on top. Decorate with a few mushrooms and dehydrate for a couple of hours at 110.
Filling #2: Spinach Velvet Cream Filling
2 avocados
4 cups spinach
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
1/2 cup fresh dill (or 1 tsp dried)
1 tbs olive oil
3/4 cup zucchini, roughly chopped
lemon juice, to taste
1 or 2 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp sea salt or more if needed
Pinch of nutmeg (optional)
2 tbs soaked sun dried tomatoes, chopped (optional)
A few mushrooms marinated in a little oil and tamari, Nama Shoyu, Braggs or salt, chopped up
Blend all of the ingredients, except for the sun dried tomatoes and mushrooms, until smooth and consistent. Add water if too thick. If desired, fold sun dried tomatoes into spinach mixture.
Put some marinated mushrooms at the bottom of the shell crusts and pour filling on top. Decorate with a few mushrooms or chopped sun dried tomatoes. Refrigerate for up to 4 hrs or serve immediately.
Devour with abandon!
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