Okay. One of the great and easy meals we used to love before going Vegan a couple of years ago… was Quiche. It was a real cheat meal, though… the pie crust was just the beginning. Put six eggs in and you’re up to like 30 grams of fat and added cholesterol… (and even more in the CHEESE!!)
I tried making a couple of Vegan Quiches… without much success. Okay, more like abysmal failure. Was not fun. Not pretty. And, frankly, those couple of evening meals turned into meals eaten at a nearby restaurant. Seriously.
BUT!! I kept looking … and kept hoping.
Finally… Tanya Barnard and Sarah Kramer’s book – The Garden of Vegan (BUY IT IF YOU DON’T ALREADY OWN IT!!) has it DOWN!!
It’s amazing – easy – and even your omnivorous friends will love it (I’ve tried it on them!)
Here it is:
Ingredients:
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 mushrooms, sliced (any kind)
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp Braggs (amino acids / soy sauce like – available at Health Food grocers)
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp pepper
2 cups spinach, chopped (fresh or frozen – but if frozen, thawed)
1 lb medium-firm tofu
1/3 cup soy milk
1 cup soy cheese (recommend: Daiya – made from TAPIOCA!)
5-10 sun dried tomatoes (optional!! great without, too)
1 9 inch vegan pie crust (make it or buy it frozen)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium saucepan on medium heat, saute the onions, garlic, and mushrooms in oil until the onions are translucent. (PopVeg Note: Use a wok – makes life easier). Add the Braggs, oregano, turmeric, and pepper. Mix well. Remove from heat, add the spinach on top of the onion mixture, cover and set aside. In a blender or food processor, blend the tofu and soy milk until well combined. In a large bowl (or in the still-warm wok!) mix together the vegetable mixture, tofu mixture, soy cheese, and – if using – tomatoes. (PopVeg Note: I’ve made several times… using a big warm bowl sort of starts to really blend the ingredients… makes the cheese start to blend and makes it easy to get everything nicely prepared). Pour mixture into pie crust (PopVeg note: smooth it out using a rubber spatula, making sure it’s basically even across the top).
Bake for 40-45 minutes or until top is golden brown.
Let cool and set for 10 minutes before serving.
Makes 1 pie.
Serves… 4-6 depending on what else you are serving.