Sometimes after a long day, we just need a dinner that is quick, easy, and not too heavy.  We tend to keep pie shells, eggs, mushrooms, spinach, and cheese around at all times so it’s only natural that a quiche would find it’s way into our repertoire from time to time.

Quiche is basically a pastry crust filled with with eggs and meat, veggies, cheese, or any combination of the three.  Our version leaves out the meat, but maintains the light, but fulfilling nature of any good quiche.  The buttery, flaky crust with the creamy, custardy filling and chunky bites of mushroom and spinach all topped with nutty Gruyere cheese will tickle your taste buds with every bite.  Pair it with a side salad and you have a lovely meatless meal for a warm evening or a Sunday brunch.

From a Simply Budgeted perspective, the Gruyere will be your most expensive item.  We bought ours from the big box warehouse store for about $12/pound.  The nice thing is that Gruyere has a big flavor, so a little goes a long ways.  We only used about 1/4 pound (so $3) for the whole dish.  It should also only take you about 15 minutes of active cooking time, giving you time to chill out for a bit after getting home from work while dinner cooks itself.

Spinach and Mushroom Quiche

Ingredients

1 9 ” pie shell
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 cups sliced mushrooms
salt and pepper
2 cups baby spinach
1 garlic clove, minced
3 eggs
1 cup half and half
1 cup Gruyere cheese, shredded

Directions

Preheat oven to 375.  Prepare pie shell in 9″ deep dish pie plate.  Set aside.

In a large pan over medium-high heat, add olive oil, mushrooms, and salt and pepper to taste.  Cook mushrooms until lightly browned, 5-6 minutes, and add spinach and garlic.  Cook until spinach is wilted and most of the liquid has evaporated, another 4-5 minutes.  Drain off the excess liquid and set vegetables aside for a few minutes to cool.

Whisk together eggs, half and half, and salt and pepper to taste.

Place vegetables into bottom of pie shell.  Pour egg mixture over the vegetables and top with Gruyere.

Bake at 375 for 35 minutes or until quiche is puffy and golden brown.  Serve warm or at room temperature.  It makes about 6-8 servings.  Enjoy!

Have a Meatless Monday experience, recipe, or request?  Leave us a comment and let us know what you’re up to!

Meatless Monday, a national nonprofit public health initiative, is all about incorporating more vegetables and less meat into our diet.  It’s about moderation, just one day a week, cutting down on meats high in saturated fat and increasing protein-rich plant-based foods — good for personal health and good for the planet.