Real men do eat quiche

My husband happens to love it, so I make an easy version every month or so. Containing largely kitchen staples, it’s the perfect on-the-fly dish and can be easily adapted to whatever ingredients are on hand. It’s also a great way to use up less-than-fresh produce, leftover meat and odd bits of cheese.

Because of its baking time, I frequently treat quiche as a fix-ahead meal. I chop and sauté fillings, grate cheese, put all of it in a prepared pie crust and refrigerate the night before. The next day, I just whisk up the eggs with some seasonings, pour into the quiche pan and bake.

My most recent quiche incorporated turkey bacon, onion, garlic, mushrooms, fresh spinach and cheddar cheese. This is a classic in our house, but many other vegetables and greens work well, such as zucchini, asparagus, broccoli, fennel, leeks, chard, kale and collards.

Cheese is also a matter of taste. I’ve used Swiss, Jack, Parmesan and various blues. Have a few slices of leftover deli ham or a baked chicken breast? Toss that in, too. Then cover with 8 to 10 beaten eggs depending on the size of your pan. If desired, whisk in some milk, half-’n'-half or cream.

Since this is supposed to be easy, I use pre-made pie crusts usually found near the refrigerated biscuits in grocery stores. I usually buy several and freeze, so I have them on hand. If I ever doubted the validity of forgoing homemade pastry, it evaporated years ago when, catering a college French club event, a woman approached me and said.

“This is the best quiche I’ve ever tasted, and I’m French!”

If you’re a glutton for punishment, try the Quiche Pastry recipe in the Mail Tribune’s new online Recipe Box. Look for it under the Egg heading. It was published earlier this year with Jan Roberts-Dominguez’s weekly column in A la Carte.