Ham and Spinach Quiche

Posted by Tracie Saturday, October 16, 2010 9:41 PM 0 comments




 


Tracie's Ham and Spinach Quiche

10 to 12 medium or large. raw eggs (or Egg Beaters equivalent)
2 cups low fat shredded Cheddar Cheese (or cheese of your choice)
2 medium onions, chopped and sauteed in a small pan.
2 TBSP Olive Oil (for sauteing onions)
1 small package (box) frozen, chopped spinach (allowed to thaw and most water squeezed out, approx 1 cup)
1 small package finely chopped ham pieces (approx. 1 cup)
Garlic Powder (or can use real finely chopped garlic, maybe a few TBSP)
Black Pepper (1/8th tsp)
Dried Basil leaves (approx. 1/4 to 1/2 tsp, can omit this if you dont like basil)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Sautee onions in a small saucepan with about 2 TBSP Olive Oil until translucent, sit aside.  Mix eggs with milk in a large mixing bowl with whisk or electric beater until well combined, stir in garlic powder, black pepper and basil. You ideally could also add any other spices to this that you like. In the past, I have also experimented with Cajun seasoning, Italian Seasoning, etc and they have all turned out well. It just depends on what you like.  Coat a 9x12" baking dish (my glass one I use is a bit smaller than this) with fat free cooking spray.  Just remember that if you use a larger pan, the squares will be thinner and the recipe will take less time to cook so adjust accordingly. Sprinkle the spinach, onions, ham and cheese evenly in layers in the pan, it doesnt really matter what order you put them in, although I likely would not recommend using your cheese as the bottom layer so as not to burn it. Pour the contents of your mixing bowl with the eggs, milk and spices over the top of everything and bake in a 350 degree oven for approx. 1 hour to 1 hr & 15 minutes depending on the heat of your oven and until top is nicely browned and a knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool to warm stage and then cut into desired size squares. These can be eaten as a breakfast, a lunch or as a light supper and can be eaten hot or cool and they freeze and thaw really nicely too.

*SOME NOTES...this recipe is great for lapbanders who are in the mushy stage of their date and for those after as well.

*Sorry, I dont have a calorie count on this one yet.
Will try adding it in at a later time*

*This is a completely customizable recipe that can be altered to your liking. You could also use this basic recipe and make something such as a Cheeseburger Quiche using cooked ground turkey or cooked lean ground beef, omitting the spinach and adding in some finely chopped turkey bacon and different cheeses. Ham and chopped broccoli is also good, as is a pizza quiche using layers of turkey pepperoni or cooked, ground turkey sausage, onions, mushrooms, chopped and cooked green peppers and mozzarella cheese and then you could use a bit of warmed pizza sauce on the top of a cut square once the quiche comes out of the oven.. Experiment and come up with your own combinations.*

Eggplant Lasanga

Posted by Tracie 9:03 PM 0 comments

I took the time today to put together an Eggplant Lasanga.

It is completely noodle-free and uses broiled eggplant slices in place of the usual lasanga noodles. It is also made with ground turkey instead of ground beef, a low sugar spaghetti sauce (Hunts brand), green peppers, fat free cottage cheese, low fat mozzarella and a bit of regular parmesan cheese mixed into the cottage cheese filling.  It came out really nicely, although my photos of this one didn't turn out the best, it was kind of watery on the bottom and wanted to keep spreading outward when I would cut a slice to photograph.

*click photo for larger version*


Tracie's Eggplant Lasanga

Makes 14 servings (approx 1/2 cup each)

1 large eggplant, peeled and cut into thin slices
1/2 cup finely diced green peppers
2 cups low fat mozzarella cheese (I used Sargento brand)
1 LB container of fat free Cottage Cheese
2 cans No Sugar Added Hunts spaghetti sauce
1 cup diced tomatoes, drained (I used one seasoned with onions and garlic)
1 pound ground turkey, cooked in 1 tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup Parmesan Cheese (can use more or less as desired)
2 TBSP dried parsley


Preheat oven to 375 F.
Spray PAM on a large cookie sheet and lay eggplant slices in single layer, shake on a small amount of salt and pepper, roast on medium rack until slices are just starting to brown on edges, approx. 10-15 minutes.
Spray PAM cooking spray on bottom of 9x12 baking dish.
Add one 1 to 2 TBSP olive oil in frying pan, add ground turkey and cook over medium heat, breaking up as it cooks and until cooked through.
Drain off any excess fat from turkey into colander (usually little no none in ground turkey). Remove from pan into a bowl and set aside.
Add 1 TBSP olive oil to pan and add your finely diced green peppers and cook over medium heat until nicely softened.
Empty both cans of spaghetti sauce, the drained tomatoes and the green peppers into a medium saucepan and warm on medium heat until hot, I usually let mine simmer at least 15 to 20 minutes if I have added anything extra into the sauce.
Meanwhile combine the Cottage cheese ,Mozarella cheese (reserve 1/2 cup for the top at the end of baking), Parmesan cheese and parsley in a large mixing bowl until it is well blended. 
Take your baking dish and cover bottom of dish with some of the warmed pasta sauce, then spread out your cooked ground turkey evenly on top of that. Add all of your eggplant slices in an even layer on top of the turkey. On top of this, add another small portion of your spaghetti sauce, then spoon carefully the cottage cheese mixture on top of this. Add more spaghetti sauce evenly across the top.  
Cover with aluminum foil and bake in a 375 degree oven for approx 45-50 minutes, maybe more depending on the strength of your oven, until the lasanga is bubbling all around the edges and the center is hot. Remove from oven and sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of Mozzarella cheese evenly across the top and return to oven for approx. 5-10 minutes until cheese is nicely melted and starting to lightly brown.
Remove from oven and let rest for 10-15 minutes before cutting into squares for serving.
Serve with a salad or a side vegetable and enjoy!

Nutrition information, per square... 219 calories,  8.78 g Fat, 11.7 g Carbohydrates, 18 g Protein, 2.57 g Fiber, 5.78 grams sugar, 475 mg sodium.

*Notes*
The next time I make this, I am going to cut back on the amount of sauce I use. I overdid it a bit and the recipe came out a bit too saucy, and I still had about a cup and a half of the sauce leftover to save for other uses.

You could use two pieces of this as a serving for a NON Lapband family member.

You could also customize this any way you want, add some cooked mushrooms, sliced carrots, zucchini or other vegetables to the lasanga, just make sure you add it into your nutrition counts.

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