Hatch Green Chile Chicken Enchilada Crustless Quiche

It's crustless quiche time again. After finishing off my last homemade quiche, I decided I needed a more lunchtime southwestern feel this time around, so I came up with the following recipe.

Hatch Green Chile Chicken Enchilada Crustless Quiche

Ingredients:

6 eggs

1 cup milk

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon homemade taco seasoning (you can use the package)

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon minced garlic

2 tablespoons taco sauce (I use Taco Bell Fire)

1 can shredded chicken (drained)

1 can chopped Hatch green chiles (drained - I used mild)

1 cup shredded cheese (I used Mexican blend)

1/2 small onion or 2 shallots

1 tablespoon butter (softened) 

Minced onion flakes

Set oven to 350. Spray cooking spray into a pie pan and set aside. In a bowl, whisk eggs, milk, salt, pepper, taco seasoning, cumin and taco sauce. Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Pour into pie pan. Sprinkle a little minced onion flakes on top. Place in the oven and bake for 45 minutes or until the middle is no longer jiggly. Serve with a side of black beans and a salad or even vinegar cucumbers and onions (check out the recipe). 

I was afraid the recipe would be too spicy, but the spices and taco sauce just added to the wonderful flavors and only enhanced them. If you want it to be spicier, I suggest regular chiles, not mild, and double the taco sauce...maybe a little red pepper too which is always good. You could substitute the red pepper on top instead of the minced onion flakes. Ooh I like that idea and will give that a shot next time...

The finished quiche is simply delicious, full of wonderful southwestern flavors reminiscent of the tastes New Mexico and our recent family vacation this summer to Ruidoso. 

Hope you enjoy this recipe and make your own. It's very easy and you end up with a healthy low carb, protein-rich yummy quiche the entire family can enjoy. If you make this quiche, be sure and comment with how yours turned out and tasted and, as always, please subscribe if you like what you've seen and tried. 

Until next time, Bon appetite! 

And...

Have a great 4th of July, my friends! 

2 Recipes in 1: Broccoli, Ham and Cheese with Onion Crustless Quiche and Spicy Vinegar Cucumbers and Purple Onion

Man, I love summer! Summer vegetables are my favorite. I love to buy locally from the local farmers market to little fruit and vegetable stands here. I would grow my own but it's just too damn hot here in North Texas and we are in the middle of a drought as well. Who am I kidding? I'd rather buy than grow it myself. I'm not great at keeping plants alive. 

My first trip this summer to the vegetable stand here in town and I brought home some tasty local vegetables and fruit...cucumbers, purple onions, squash, zucchini, new (red) potatoes and peaches for my kiddo. I am a sucker cucumbers and since childhood we've put cucumbers in a vinegar concoction and let them marinate and they come out still so crispy and delicious and perfect for summer.

So are you ready for this easy, healthy snack or summer side to any meal with locally grown cucumbers and onions you can get in your own garden, at your local farmers market or fruit/vegetable stand? This recipe also works really well with the large cucumbers that are too bitter because they've grown too big in the garden. 

Vinegar Cucumbers and Onions

Ingredients: 

4-5 small to medium size cucumbers (peeled and sliced)

1 medium purple onion (sliced into rings)

2 cups of vinegar

1 cup water

1 tablespoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar (or sugar substitute like agave nectar with 1 tablespoon)

1  tablespoon black pepper

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or to taste but may omit)

Get a good size bowl you can seal with a lid. Wash, peel and slice cucumbers and place in the bowl. Cut the onion into slices and place in the bowl as well. Add in the rest of the ingredients. Seal with lid and place in refrigerator overnight or 12 hours so they soak up the flavor. The longer they marinate the better they taste and the spicier they get, too! 

     (First serving of yummy cucumbers that summer...delicious!)

If you know me any at all I'm always trying to find and create healthy, protein-rich meals for maintaining this healthy lifestyle I started just over a year ago. Lately there have been too many carbs in my recipes for my liking, so this next recipe is low carb (basically no carb) but still tasty even without those unhealthy carbs. 

I'm always experimenting trying out new and different things and my newest venture is making quiches.  I love a good quiche. I am particularly fond of the flaky crust that comes with a good quiche, ugh my downfall I know! So I decided to see if a crustless quiche was just as good...and you know what? It comes pretty close if it's made right.

My first crustless quiches combines some of my favorite fixins, too...ham, cheese, broccoli and locally grown fresh onions. Yum!

Broccoli, Ham and Cheese with Onion Crustless Quiche

Ingredients:

6 eggs

1 cup milk

1 cup shredded cheese (I used Mexican blend)

2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan (optional)

Salt and pepper to taste

1 package frozen broccoli steamer 

1 cup diced ham (I used deli sliced that is diced up pretty fine)

1 small purple onion (diced)

Preheat oven to 350. Microwave broccoli steamer per instructions on package, chop finer if you wish and set aside. Spray cooking spray into pie pan and set aside as well. Whisk together eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Add in ham, cheese, onion and broccoli and whisk everything together well. Pour into pie pan and bake for approximately 45 minutes or until the center is no longer jiggly. Remove from oven and serve with your favorite side (like spicy vinegar cucumbers and onions maybe). 

(A slice of quiche with a side of spicy vinegar cucumbers and onions...perfect summer meal)

I believe my next quiche will include more of my summer vegetables. Good stuff! Now that I know how yummy these crustless quiches are I plan to make a lot of them with all kinds of different ingredients. Check back for more wonderfully mostly healthy recipes. And remember to comment if you had a chance to try out this recipe or other recipes of mine and, if you like what you see, please take a moment and subscribe. 

Enjoy your summer and try to stay cool the best way you know how. Bon Appetite!