Crustless Spinach Mini Quiche

Okay, I've had it with winter produce.

I've done my best to keep eating things that were fresh and local throughout the long winter.  I've eaten (and loved!) a lot of butternut squash and kale, but I have been turning to the freezer more and more often lately for summer food.  Tonight's recipe contains frozen spinach (none of the out-of-season "fresh" stuff available now, which is wilted before it even leaves the store).

It otherwise contains no vegetables.

But I think you'll forgive me if you try these delicious morsels.

Two weeks ago, I hosted a party at which I served a version of these crustless mini quiche.  The original recipe called for whole milk, cream, egg yolks, etc.  I used all whole milk instead of cream and omitted the salt, but otherwise kept the recipe the same.  Instead of the shallot/zucchini filling recommended in the original recipe, I used frozen chopped spinach.  And it was amazing.

But I knew it still had enough cholesterol and fat to kill me.

So, I lightened it up.  For a tutorial on how to assemble the quiche, I recommend looking at the photo in the original recipe.  It was helpful to me.

2 cups of frozen, chopped spinach
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 and 1/4 cups of 1-percent milk
6 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Re-heat two cups of frozen, chopped spinach in the microwave.  Drain off any water and then press the spinach in a fine sieve to remove excess water.  Set aside.

Put cornstarch into a large bowl.  Slowly whisk in half the milk.  Slowly whisk in the egg whites.  Slowly whisk in the rest of the milk and the nutmeg.  Set aside.

Dip a bit of paper towel into the olive oil and use it to "grease" the insides of two mini-muffin tins.  This works better than using spray.

Put a pinch of grated cheese into each muffin hole.  About 1/2 cup of cheese should stretch across two mini-muffin tins.

Put about a 1/2 teaspoon of spinach into each muffin hole.  Again, the 2 cups of spinach should stretch across two mini-muffin tins.

Put about one and a half tablespoons of the cornstarch/milk/egg mixture into each muffin hole.  Each hole should be filled nearly to the top, but should not reach the top.

Put in the oven for 13-15 minutes, until each mini quiche appears firm and starts to get golden brown on top.  The edges of each quiche should crisp, so don't be alarmed to see some serious browning -- they're not burning.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes.  Use a knife to loosen the edges of each quiche from the tin.

About 8 of these delicious, gluten-free, high-protein, vegetarian mini-quiches would make an amazing meal when paired with salad greens and a piece of fruit.  That's what I'm planning to eat for lunch the rest of the week at work.  I won't even microwave them (they might get mushy).  They're delicious at room temperature!

Per the original recipe, these can also be frozen and reheated on a baking sheet for 5 minutes at 400 degrees.  That's actually what I did for my party and they came out great!