I am no cook. I honestly don’t know how I’ve fed myself since I left for college. I am average at best, and not terribly creative, but I do find a certain calm when I get into cooking and like to try new recipes. Perhaps one day I will share my own, but for now, I’d just like to document my cooking adventures by sharing my trials of recipes I’ve found online.
When I search for recipes, I try to look for “healthy” ones. I’ve discovered that healthy means a lot of things to a lot of people: gluten free, low calorie, low fat, low carb, paleo, primal, and loads more. I do not ascribe to a particular eating lifestyle, but I do like to try to be somewhat good. Another thing I look for in recipes is whether I already have the ingredients or whether they can readily available to an amateur like me. For example, this time around, I was looking for a recipe that I could use my leftover roasted chicken in, and that incorporated quinoa, which I am trying to figure out how to cook with more.
After some searching, I found this recipe on Skinny Mom, a complete resource for healthy living. And although I am neither skinny, nor a mom, this Skinny Crustless Chicken Quiche proved to be exactly what I was looking for.
It is rare that I follow recipes to a T. Possibly because a lot of time, I forget to pick up a requisite ingredient at the store. So I attempted to try this recipe, but with a few adaptations of my own. Here’s how it worked for me:
Nicole’s Ingredients (modified from the original recipe):
- 1 cup dry uncooked quinoa
- 2 cups water
- 6 oz cooked chicken breast, shredded
- 4 whole eggs, beaten
- 2 egg whites
- 4 oz reduced-fat cream cheese
- ⅓ cup skim milk
- 1 cup chopped red pepper
- 2 cups fresh spinach, chopped
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- ½ tsp garlic powder
Instructions
1. Cook quinoa. Set aside to cool.
2. Preheat oven to 375ºF.
3. In a large bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients.
4. Once quinoa is cooled, add to other ingredients and stir well to combine.
5. Spray a 9-inch pie plate with nonstick cooking spray.
6. Pour mixture into pie plate. Bake 25 minutes.
7. Place under broiler for 3-5 minutes to brown top.
Et voila!
I made it for my sister and my picky-eater husband a few weekends ago and they loved it! I didn’t have the scallions or chopped parsley from the original recipe, because I totally for got to get them. I added the chopped spinach instead to add a little bit of green, but I think next time, I might chop it a little bit finer and add the scallions. I like to keep a bag of fresh spinach in the apartment at all times because it’s an easy way to pack some superfood into your recipe or shake. When you take into account the spinach and fresh pepper, plus the protein from the chicken, eggs and quinoa, you’ve got yourself a really hearty and flavorful meal! It’s not just for breakfast either, we actually had it for dinner. 🙂
Three things I am grateful for today:
- Spending time with family members we don’t see often, even though tragedy brought us together.
- Cooler weather in the mornings to make for some nice morning walks and runs.
- Facetime, for allowing my husband to have a Fantasy Football Draft with his mates in England.
Ladles & Lipstick 