Squash and Sweet Potato Crustless Quiche

I first saw this intriguing dish when my friend Sara pointed it out on Facebook a short while back. The author at paleOMG calls it Spaghetti Squash Breakfast Bake.  I call it Squash and Sweet Potato Crustless Quiche.  Who cares?  It is AWESOME!

I Tweeted the link and highlighted is a favorite so I would be sure to be able to find it again… sometimes this is quicker for me than Pinterest.

The recipe itself is a fun twist on a crustless, cheeseless quiche, and the prose that accompanies it is witty and irreverent.  You may want to read it for the humor alone.  And drool.

I finally got around to making this dish a few days ago.  I admit, there is a fair amount of preparation involved.  I miked the spaghetti squash while shredding the sweet potato and onion in my food processor.  (I had never used the shredder blade before.  Who knew it could be so easy?)  At first I thought I would only need 6 eggs, but at the last minute whisked in 2 more.   And I didn't use a 8X8 pan as apparently I no longer have one!


Before baking, it looked a bit soupy….

And the final cooked result?

P-E-R-F-E-C-T-I-O-N 

Now to be honest, the ingredient list contains some of my very favorite items, so I was pretty darned sure I was going to love this dish.  And I do.  And so did The Captain, which was a huge bonus for me, too, as these are NOT some of his favorite ingredients…. but he did love the outcome.

We ate half for lunch the day I made it… then the other half for dinner a couple of night’s later.  I reheated it on a MEDIUM power in the mike for a couple of minutes… I was afraid that HIGH power might make the eggs rubbery. The Captain also thinks it would be good cold.

And just look at those tomatoes… grown on our balcony in containers!  Red and yellow cherry tomatoes. Mmmmmm.

Next time, I just may bake this quiche in my silicone muffin cups…. they would make handy snacks too!

By the way, it is also paleo, vegetarian, gluten free... all those good things!

The N.I. as I made it, for 1/4th of the whole:

Weight Watchers P+ = 6.

Calories 243; Protein 14g; Carbohydrate 16g; Fat 14g; Fibre 3g.

Give it a try.  Plan to spend some time at it.  Thoroughly enjoy the fruits of your labors.  And then send me a Tweet or come back and leave me a comment here, saying THANK YOU… it’s that good!

Are you a quiche fan?  What is your favorite kind?

White Bean and Kale Veggie Sauce

My simple pasta sauce, which is really more of a stew, took on a life of its own!

I started out wanting just to chop some veggies and then stir in some canned tomatoes, to make a quick and simple pasta sauce for our dinner.  It turned out to be so much more and so much better!

When I got out my large skillet and began cleaning and chopping vegetables, I decided to make enough sauce to have a few portions to freeze for future meals. It's always good to have something on hand to thaw for quick dinners or lunches, don't you think?

Then, when I decided to add some torn pieces of kale to the mix, I recalled a really nice kale and white bean soup that one of my Weight Watchers buddies told me about a few months back.  So I got out a can of white kidney beans, rinsed them,  and added them to my sauce pot.  By the time it was all cooked and ready to eat, I realized it was as thick as a stew.... and it was delicious.

I served it over pasta for The Captain, and cooked spaghetti squash for me, but I can easily envision it over cooked quinoa, or rice or even by itself with some cooked chicken or beef strips added to i,or on top of scrambled eggs or omelets.  It would probably even be good cold with cooked and cooled quinoa.

 



Kale and White Bean Veggie Sauce
Makes 13 half-cup servings

• 5 cloves garlic, peedled, smashed and minced
• 1/4 cup chopped white onion
• 1 medium green pepper, cut into small pieces
• 1 medium red pepper, cut into small pieces
• 2 mushrooms, sliced
• 3/4 cup diced zucchini
• 3/4 cup torn kale leaves
• 1 - 15 oz. can of white kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 - 28 ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1-1/2 Tbs Italian herbs
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Coat a large skillet with non-stick spray and place over MEDIUM-HIGH heat.
2. Add garlic, onions, peppers and cook still translucent, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the mushrooms, zucchini and cook another 8 or 10 minutes till all veggies are cooked through.  You may need to turn heat to MEDIUM during this time so veggies do not burn. Add a bit of water to pan if things are sticking.
4. Add the kale leaves and beans, and cook a few minutes more till the kale leaves are limp.
5. Stir in the tomatoes and the Italian herbs,  Bring to a light boil then turn down to simmer and cover.  Meanwhile cook the pasta and the spaghetti squash - this will take about 10 minutes.
6. Plate the pasta and the spaghetti squash and then top with 2 or 3 ladles of the sauce.  If you like, garnish with a tablespoon of shredded parmesan cheese.

Per 1 cup serving, sauce only.
Weight Watchers P+ - 3.  *
Calories 122;  Protein 7g;  Carbohydrate 23g;  Fat 0g; Fibre 6g.

*The amount of beans in a 1 cup serving of this sauce works out to Calories 68, Protein 5g; Carbohydrate 11g; Fat 0g; Fibre 3g and is equal to only 1 P+ value in the N,.I. calculation.  It is up to you as to how you want to count this in your program.

This is such a filling and delicious sauce! 

Cooking the vegetables.

 

 

Adding the beans and tomatoes.

 

Served over spaghettini and topped with freshly grated parmesan.

 

And over spaghettti squash.  Enjoy!

 

 

Printable Recipe

Better-Than-Noodle Chicken Soup

I love spaghetti squash.  I usually cook it in the microwave oven and then pile lots of cooked veggies on the top of it, some parmesan cheese, and enjoy it while The Captain feasts on pasta of some kind.

When I first read a post on Lunges and Lashes, using spaghtti squash to make 'ramen' soup, I made mental note of it and thought I would like to try it someday...

Someday finally arrived!
 
The Captain is a big fan of ramen noodles -  noodles of any kind, actually.  I often will make him a bowl of soup using a baked ramen style of noodles that I find in my local Asian market, and chicken broth, rather than opening a package of the high-fat fried ramen noodles with their high-sodium flavor packets.

So, I was very intrigued when I saw spaghetti squash used as a substitute for the noodles in this soup.

I decided to follow Holley's lead and bake the squash in the oven, before using it in the soup.  Roasting the squash does give it more flavor, but if you are in a hurry, go ahead and cook it in your mike... the prep is basically the same.

This is another opportunity to use some of the canned chunk chicken breast from Kirkland, that I have come to love... but use cut up or shredded, cooked chicken breast if you have leftovers.  And if you don't have chicken broth, just dissolve a chicken flavor cube in 2 cups of hot water.
 
 

Better-Than-Noodle Chicken Soup
Makes 2 servings

• 1 medium-small spaghetti squash
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup white onion, chopped
• 7 - 8 ounces cooked chicken breast
• 1/4 cup white onion, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste 

1. Preheat your oven to 375°F.
2. Wash the spaghetti squash and then cut it in half lengthwise.
3. Remove the soft flesh and seeds from the centre cavity.
4. Place the 2 pieces of squash, cut side down, on a baking sheet that has been coated lightly with non-stick spray. Pierce each shell a few times with a fork.
5. Bake for 40 - 45 minutes.
6. Remove from oven, and turn squash pieces over, to reveal the cut sides, and leave to cool for a few minutes. 
7. While squash is cooling, place the onion in a saute pan coated with non-stick spray and lightly saute.  
8. Heat the broth to just below boiling point.
9. When the squash is cool enough to handle, remove the flesh with a fork.  It will pull away easily and it looks like long thin noodles.
10. Place the 'noodles' from each half into 2 bowls.  Then top each with half the onions and 1 cup of the broth.  Add seasonings and serve.

Per serving.
Weight Watchers P+ = 5.
Calories 209; Protein 25g; Carbohydrate 17g; Fat 4g; Fibre 5g.

Squash cut in half lengthwise.

Scoop soft flesh and seeds of cavity.

Place cut side down on prepared baking sheet.  Pierce with fork in several places.

I cover a baking sheet with foil for easy cleanup.

After baking, allow to cool and then 'shred' flesh away from sides with a fork.

Serve hot in a large soupbowl. Mmmm...

Printable Recipe

Pump up the Volume

Sometimes I really want to eat a delicious tomato-based veggie sauce, the kind that you put on pasta.  But even though I am really hungry today,  I don't want the pasta.  Instead I am having my sauce on a heaping bed of spaghetti squash.  This is a really big meal - lots of volume for very few calories.  A win-win in my books.

When I am going to eat the whole squash for dinner, I start the process with a fairly small one.  This one is about 8 inches long.  You could, of course, just eat half of a larger one.

I like to get The Captain to cut the squash in half, lengthwise, and today he offered to scooop out the innards, too, before I cooked it.

I cook my squash, cut-side down in the microwave oven, for about 6 minutes per half.  I tend to cook it for a few minutes, check it, then cook it a bit longer if it needs it.  I find it gets kind of mushy when it is overcooked, and I don't like that.

After it is done it is too hot to handle right away so I leave it to cool for a couple of minutes before taking the flesh out of the shell.  I just rake a fork across the grain and it comes out very easily.

Naturally, while all this is going on, I have had a sauce cooking on the stove.  Today it is garlic, onions, orange bell peppers, mushrooms, canned diced tomatoes and a bit of tomato paste... cooked till it thickened up and then I add spaghetti seasoning for the last few minutes of bubbling time.  The Captain will get half on his rotini.

A bit of salt on the plateful of squash, and then the sauce.  Heaven!



Per Serving.
Weight Watchers P+ = 0.
Calories 143; Protein 5g; Carbohydrate 31g; Fat 1g; Fibre 9g