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Zucchini, Corn & Spinach Quiche

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I didn’t eat eggs until I had quiche. True story. Except for in baked goods, I didn’t eat eggs for about 20 years of my life. I think in my mind they were mysterious and gross and wouldn’t be good to put in my mouth. I had no reason to think this. I don’t think I had ever actually given them a chance.

One day, my friends and I were all home from college and they were coming over for brunch. My mom asked what I wanted to make and I said quiche. Why I chose quiche I have no idea. I was fully aware that it was made with eggs as a star ingredient. Apparently I thought my friends really liked quiche. Who knows.

My mom asked what I wanted in my quiche so she could pick up the ingredients when she went grocery shopping and I just found a recipe with the basics. Eggs. Cheese. Sweet bell pepper. Done.

I made the quiche with a store bought crust and the basics. By the way, you can also make this recipe with an uncooked store bought crust. It will still be yummy! Anyway, I sat and twiddled my thumbs while it baked thinking it would turn out like a giant egg mess.

Lo and behold, about an hour later when the quiche was done it looked rather tasty. Being that I asked for quiche, had my mom buy the ingredients, then went through the trouble to make it, I figured I better eat it. So very tentatively I picked up my fork and took a bite. Delicious! Turns out eggs are pretty good.

Sorry 20 years of my life. Sorry you missed out on eggs and delicious quiche. Because I missed so much deliciousness over the years, I make it up to myself now by making all sorts of delicious quiche. Here’s a good one!

Zucchini, Corn & Spinach Quiche
Serves 8
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Prep Time
30 min
Cook Time
1 hr
Prep Time
30 min
Cook Time
1 hr
For the pie crust
  1. 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  2. 1/4 teaspoon salt
  3. 1/4 teaspoon sugar
  4. 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed (1 stick)
  5. 3 tablespoons cold water
For the filling
  1. 1 zucchini
  2. 1 yellow squash
  3. 1 tablespoon olive oil
  4. 1 garlic clove, minced
  5. 2 ears of corn (about 1 cup corn)
  6. 1/4 cup chopped onion (I used half a small yellow onion)
  7. 2 cups of fresh spinach
  8. 4 eggs
  9. 1/4 cup milk
  10. 1 tablespoon dried basil
  11. 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  12. 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus a pinch to sprinkle on zucchini
  13. 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  14. 1 cup grated melting cheese (I used cheddar)
  15. 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
For the pie crust
  1. Place dry ingredients (flour, salt, sugar) in food processor and pulse to blend.
  2. Add butter in 1/2 inch cubes, one or two at a time. Pulse between adding cubes of butter to incorporate.
  3. Add water and pulse until the dough just comes together into a ball
  4. Flatten dough into a disc and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 1 hour.
  5. After dough has rested, roll into circle on well-floured surface and transfer into pie dish.
  6. Crimp edges of pie crust and set aside.
For the filling
  1. Slice zucchini and squash into thin slices (I used a mandoline) and place on a wire rack. Sprinkle with salt and let sit for at least 15 minutes while preparing the rest of the filling.
  2. In a large saute pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic and saute for 1 minute. Add corn cut from corn cobs and onion. Saute for about 5 minutes until the corn turns bright yellow and the onion starts to turn translucent. Add fresh spinach and heat until it just wilts in the pan. Take off heat and set aside.
  3. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, dried basil, dried oregano, salt and pepper. Mix in the melting cheese and Parmesan cheese (I saved a little cheese to sprinkle over top).
  4. Take a paper towel or towel and pat the zucchini and squash dry. You want them as dry as possible so the quiche does not become soggy.
To assemble
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Layer zucchini/squash with onion/corn/spinach mixture in pie crust.
  3. Pour egg mixture over top, making sure it gets all the way to the bottom of the crust. Sprinkle the top with remaining cheese.
  4. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until eggs become firm to the touch in the middle. Let sit about 10 minutes once it is out of the oven to set before cutting. Quiche can be served hot or warm.
Notes
  1. You want to make sure the zucchini and squash are VERY dry or else there could be too much water in the mixture and you end up with a soggy pie crust.
  2. You can buy an uncooked pie crust at the store and complete the process the same way...but what's the fun in that?
  3. Mozzarella, Gouda, or another kind of melting cheese would be nice instead of cheddar but I had cheddar I had to use up! It was still delicious!
  4. I topped mine with fresh basil because I had it. And because it's pretty. Who doesn't like pretty?
Flavor From Scratch https://www.flavorfromscratch.com/

Homemade Pizza Dough

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Who doesn’t love pizza? I’m pretty sure pizza has every single thing that you could need in life on it. Every single thing. And it’s hard to get tired of because there are seriously about a gazillion options for what you can put on it. It’s basically the perfect food.
 
Thank you to whoever said, “Let’s take delicious yeast dough and cover it in tomatoes and cheese and olive oil and everything yummy then bake it until it’s golden brown and bubbly.” You make my life better about once a week. Not that I’m saying I eat pizza about once a week…nope. Actually, yes. Yes, I do eat it a lot.
Risen dough

Just wait until you try this pizza dough that is light and airy but also chewy and crunchy. Is that even possible? The answer is yes! So try it. For real. I had been making a different dough for awhile now and it was good but after trying this one, I think this one takes the cake. It it is so much lighter and golden brown…yum! Wow, I really want pizza again.

I make mine on a pizza stone but you can also do this on a normal baking tray or round tray. I’m going to be honest though. The pizza stone is an awesome investment. Just think of all the money you’ll save from ordering out! That covers it, right? We’ll tell ourselves that at least.

Also, I didn’t add any herbs or spices this time but sometimes I will add in whatever I feel like (garlic powder, oregano, red pepper flakes, basil) to the dough. If you do this, just add the herbs or spices in with the flour so it can get incorporated during the kneading process!

P.S. I am a little over the top. I not only made the pizza dough but I also made the sauce and cheese from scratch. And the basil is from our garden. It was scrumptious. Who here didn’t know you can make cheese at home? Well, you can and I highly recommend it. It’s from a cheese-making kit and I’m still not good at it but apparently it’s still delicious even if you’re not good at it. Awesome! Also, pizza sauce recipe to be posted soon! **Update: Pizza Sauce recipe is posted here!

Homemade Pizza Dough
Yields 2
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Prep Time
2 hr 30 min
Cook Time
15 min
Prep Time
2 hr 30 min
Cook Time
15 min
Ingredients
  1. 1 1/2 cup warm water (105-115 degrees Fahrenheit)
  2. 1 tablespoon dry yeast (instant)
  3. 1 tablespoon sugar
  4. 1 tablespoon olive oil
  5. 1 teaspoon salt
  6. 3 1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour
  7. garlic salt, optional
  8. corn meal
Instructions
  1. Mix together warm water, yeast, and sugar in a large mixing bowl (I used my stand mixer bowl). Let sit about 10 minutes until the mixture becomes foamy.
  2. Add olive oil, salt, and 1 1/2 cups of flour and mix to combine. I used my hook attachment on my mixer but you can do this by hand. Slowly add 2 to 2 1/2 cups of flour to mixture until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Start with 2 cups then add more flour if the mixture is still sticky. It should be barely sticky once the flour is added.
  3. Once the dough is barely sticky, mix on medium-low in your stand mixer with the hook attachment, or by hand, for 5 minutes.
  4. Lightly coat the bowl with olive oil (I used olive oil spray) and roll the dough around to coat the bowl and all the sides of the dough with oil. Cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel until it is doubled in size (1-2 hours).
  5. Preheat your oven to 475 degrees Fahrenheit about 15 minutes before you think your dough has risen and place your pizza stone in the oven to preheat (preheat for at least 30 minutes).
  6. After the dough has risen, remove from the bowl and divide into 2 pieces. Make into 2 balls and cover with a kitchen towel and let rest another 15 minutes.
  7. You can freeze the dough at this point in separate plastic bags (spray dough with oil before freezing) or use it immediately. Take the pizza stone out of the oven and cover it with cornmeal. Stretch the dough to the size of the pizza stone and transfer to the stone. You can still stretch it on the stone (Be careful. It's hot!) to reach the edges.
  8. Spray or lightly brush olive oil over the dough then place your toppings on it. If you want, sprinkle garlic salt around the crust (The crust will taste like garlic breadsticks...yum!).
  9. Bake for 12-15 minutes until the crust is golden brown on the outside and the toppings are bubbly and delicious. You can also broil the pizza for a minute or two after you bake it to get an extra bubbly and crispy pizza.
Notes
  1. I froze one of the dough balls because we were only going to eat 1 pizza (even though I would have eaten them both if I could). As stated above, spray the dough with oil then place the dough balls in separate plastic bags to freeze. Defrost in the refrigerator for about 12 hours then let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before baking, making sure to preheat your pizza stone for at least 30 minutes before placing the dough on it.
Adapted from Carlsbad Cravings
Adapted from Carlsbad Cravings
Flavor From Scratch https://www.flavorfromscratch.com/
 

Spicy Fish with an Avocado & Greek Yogurt Sauce

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I’m honestly new to this whole “fish” thing. My mom loves fish and probably would have made it more as we were growing up if my sister and I weren’t so darn picky. Unfortunately for her she pretty much lost that battle and lived a fish-free life for the most part. But guess what?? I like fish now! Kind of. In small quantities as least. I can really only eat about half a fillet of fish before I get tired of it and have to try and pawn it off on my husband or save it for another day. Progress is slow. But, hey…progress is progress.

This recipe was kind of the recipe that changed my view of fish from “no, thank you” to “hey, this is kind of not bad”. Actually, it is DELICIOUS! I can even sometimes eat a full fillet of this fish because I love it so much. And sometimes I only eat half but, again, progress can be slow. I use tilapia because a good tilapia fillet is light and it doesn’t really have a strong flavor so it can take on the flavor of whatever you put on it.

In this case, you put a rub on the fish that is so smoky and spicy and yummy it will make your mouth water. And it may make you sweat if you’re not up for heat. BUT, then you add this creamy and tangy avocado sauce that balances the heat of the fish. I can literally eat this sauce by the spoonful. I am not joking about that and I am not sorry for the image you now have of me stuffing my face with avocado sauce.

So, I’m sorry mom that you never got to eat fish because we were so picky. Turns out, fish really isn’t so bad after all. It’s actually kind of delicious.

Spicy Fish with an Avocado & Greek Yogurt Sauce
Serves 2
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Prep Time
15 min
Cook Time
10 min
Prep Time
15 min
Cook Time
10 min
For the fish
  1. 2 fish fillets (I used tilapia. It was about 0.8 pounds)
  2. 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  3. 1/4 teaspoon salt
  4. 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  5. 1/4 teaspoon cumin
  6. 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
  7. 1/8-1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, to taste
  8. 1 tablespoon olive oil, to fry in
For the avocado sauce
  1. 1 avocado
  2. 1/2 of small (5.3-ounce) plain Greek yogurt container
  3. juice from half a lime
  4. salt, to taste
Instructions
  1. Mix together the ingredients for the fish rub (paprika, salt, pepper, cumin, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper). Rub mixture on both sides of the fish fillets.
  2. Heat olive oil in large saute pan and cook fish for about 4 minutes per side, or until it becomes flaky. *Alternate method of cooking would be to place on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes in a 350 degree oven, or until it flakes with a fork. This method does not require the oil.
  3. While the fish is cooking, place the avocado, Greek yogurt, lime juice and salt in a food processor and blend.
  4. Serve with rice or on its own!
Notes
  1. If you do not have a food processor you can mash it together by hand but it may not get quite as creamy. You can also put this rub and sauce on chicken and it is also delicious!
Adapted from Baking with Blondie
Adapted from Baking with Blondie
Flavor From Scratch https://www.flavorfromscratch.com/

 

 

Asian Tacos

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Well, I had been leaving you in suspense since I posted my flour tortillas as to what we ate in them. The time is finally here to announce and it is certainly delicious…ASIAN INSPIRED TACOS!!! Yay! Can you even believe it?!? What a wonderful idea.

These things make my mouth water just thinking of them. In fact, I am *super* excited to share that tonight is finally Asian taco leftover night!! I love leftovers. Especially when it was just so good the first time round. I have been waiting and waiting for tonight. Okay, it’s only been a couple of days but even that has been too long.

The taco meat is kind of tangy, sesame-y, spicy, and slightly sweet. THEN, you top it with this crunchy quick pickle that is out of this world. Put them all on my homemade tortillas with a little Sriracha and lime and I am in heaven!

Now, when I made this recipe I knew we were going to have leftovers so I actually halved the quick pickle recipe. I like the veggies crunchy so if I were to leave the prepared quick pickle in the fridge for a couple of days it would kind of get floppy. You just wouldn’t want to eat a floppy quick pickle…so make what you need for the night, please! Tonight before I heat up the tortillas and meat I’ll pull together the quick pickle and it will be ready by the time we eat!

 
Asian Tacos
Serves 4
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Prep Time
15 min
Cook Time
20 min
Total Time
35 min
Prep Time
15 min
Cook Time
20 min
Total Time
35 min
Ingredients for the quick pickle
  1. 1/4 cup vinegar
  2. 3 tablespoons sugar
  3. 1/4 teaspoon salt
  4. 1 cup very thinly sliced cucumber
  5. 1 cup shredded red cabbage
Ingredients for the tacos
  1. 8 flour tortillas
  2. 1 pound ground turkey
  3. 2 tablespoons sesame oil
  4. 2 cloves garlic, minced
  5. 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
  6. 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
  7. 1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
  8. 3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
  9. 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
  10. 1/4 cup water
  11. 1 tablespoon corn starch
  12. lime wedges
  13. Sriracha, optional
Instructions
  1. Whisk the vinegar, sugar, and salt together in a small bowl for the quick pickle. Mix in the cucumber and red cabbage. Let sit for 15 minutes to 6 hours.
  2. Brown ground turkey over medium-high heat. Once it is cooked through, drain any excess fat. Set aside.
  3. Add the sesame oil to a skillet. Once heated, add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds or until slightly browned. Add the ginger, crushed red pepper, soy sauce, brown sugar, and rice vinegar and heat through.
  4. Mix the water and corn starch together. When the soy sauce mixture is slightly bubbling around the edges, slowly add the water and corn starch mixture while constantly stirring to incorporate. The sauce should thicken quickly.
  5. Once thickened, add the turkey back into the sauce and let simmer until it is heated through.
  6. Prepare the tacos with the ground turkey and quick pickles. Serve with lime wedges, and Sriracha, to taste.
Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens
Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens
Flavor From Scratch https://www.flavorfromscratch.com/
 

Pierogi with Cheesy Potato Filling

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I’m approximately 72.5793% Slovak. Approximate guess. OKAY, random number I made up. But needless to say this fine specimen (me, of course) is mostly Slovak. I may, however, lose some Eastern European credit when I confess that I have never made homemade pierogi before now. I’ve eaten them many a time but never have these hands made them. *Sigh* Yes, I am ashamed.

My grandpa used to help make pierogi at his church and he would bring some back sometimes to eat. I’m pretty sure that when I say he helped “make” pierogi, he actually spent most of the time telling jokes and stories. However, the actual cooks were most likely well entertained during the pierogi-making process. And we were all happy to end up with tasty pierogi.

Since I had little idea of where to start making pierogi, I went to my trusty Slovak cookbook my grandma gave me many years ago filled with a wonderful mix of Slovak recipes and random recipes (I’m just guessing that chop suey is not Slovak…could be wrong). However, when the pierogi recipe called for 1 cup of flour and 1 potato to make 50 pierogi, I knew I probably would need a miracle from God to make that work. So, instead I found my way to the trusty internet and put together a mix of what I saw there with what my parents could tell me about how my grandparents would make pierogi and here is the end result.

These would be really good to make with friends, especially those with good jokes and stories like my grandpa had. I’m not saying they are hard to make, but very time consuming because so much love needs to go into each individual pierogi. Luckily, this recipe makes a good number of pierogi and once you have a system down, it wouldn’t be hard to make more! Just make sure your arms are up for a workout with all the dough rolling! 

*Note: Yes, the plural is actually pierogi, not pierogies as many people say. It may even be spelled pirohy if you are Slovak. Only if you are Slovak can you spell it that way. Sorry non-Slovak friends. Such is life.

Pierogi with Cheesy Potato Filling
Yields 50
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Prep Time
2 hr
Cook Time
30 min
Total Time
2 hr 30 min
Prep Time
2 hr
Cook Time
30 min
Total Time
2 hr 30 min
Ingredients for the dough
  1. 3 cups flour
  2. pinch of salt
  3. 1/2 cup warm milk
  4. 1 tablespoon melted butter
  5. 1/2 to 3/4 cups of warm water
  6. chives for garnish, optional
Ingredients for the filling
  1. 5 medium potatoes (I used red potatoes)
  2. 4-6 ounces of cheddar cheese, to taste, grated
  3. 1/2 to 1 onion, to taste
  4. 1 clove of garlic
  5. 1 tablespoon of butter (to saute onion)
  6. pinch of salt & pepper
  7. 1/4 cup cooked bacon, optional
Directions for the dough
  1. Mix the flour and salt together and pour on a flat surface. Form a well in the middle of the flour then add the milk and 1 tablespoon of melted butter to the well.
  2. Start incorporating the milk and butter into the flour until you form a dough. Add water, as necessary, to help form the dough. I ended up using about 1/2 cup of water, but you may need more or less.
  3. Knead the dough for 10-15 minutes until a ball forms (Yes, you are reading that right. Turn on the TV or have a nice conversation while this is happening!)
  4. Cover the dough ball with a bowl or in plastic wrap. Let sit about half an hour to rest.
Directions for the filling
  1. While the dough is resting, peel and cut the potatoes into about 1 inch pieces. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Let boil until the potatoes are fork tender. This process will take about 20 minutes.
  2. Puree the onion and garlic in a food processor (you can also chop them into small pieces but my husband and I don't love onions so I pureed them to hide the texture a bit)
  3. Saute the onion and garlic mixture in 1 tablespoon of butter for about 5 minutes until the onions turn slightly transparent and start to brown.
  4. Drain and mash the potatoes, saving about 1/4 cup of the potato water to thin the potatoes if needed (you can also use milk or regular water to thin the potatoes).
  5. Mix in the cheddar cheese, onion and garlic mixture, salt and pepper, and bacon to the potatoes. Add potato water or milk to thin the mashed potatoes if needed.
To make the pierogi
  1. Divide the dough into 2 or 3 pieces to make it easier to work with. Keep the extra pieces covered while working.
  2. Roll the dough thin and cut into circles with a cookie cutter or glass.
  3. Put about a teaspoon of potato filling into the center.
  4. Wet one side of the dough circle with water to help seal and fold the pierogi in half.
  5. Use a fork to seal the edges (and make it look pretty!)
  6. Place about 8 pierogi at a time in boiling, salted water. Let the pierogi float to the top then cook for one additional minute. Let drain on a drying rack or towel.
  7. Fry in butter until golden brown. Garnish with chives to serve.
Notes
  1. You can also serve pierogi with sour cream on top. My grandma would always finish the pierogi by frying them in butter along with onions (again, not a huge onion fan so I put the onion in the filling instead). I actually used bacon fat from cooking the bacon to fry the pierogi the first time we ate these. Also delicious. Pierogi freeze well after they are boiled. Just let them dry off a bit once they come out of the water so they don't stick together. I put parchment paper between the layers of pierogi before freezing as well. When you bring them out out of the freezer you can just fry them up, even without defrosting prior to cooking.
Adapted from Innocent Delight
Adapted from Innocent Delight
Flavor From Scratch https://www.flavorfromscratch.com/
 
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