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/

Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Do you ever have one of those weeks where nothing seems to go your way? It’s definitely been one of those weeks for me. Despite all the things that went wrong, let me tell you something good about life. Chocolate chip cookies. First of all, anything that starts with the word “chocolate” is amazing. It doesn’t even matter what the phrase ends with…chocolate bar, chocolate chip, chocolate covered bacon, chocolate pretzel, chocolate cupcake, chocolate ice cream, chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate lava cake, chocolate fountain, chocolate in my mouth. I think you got the point. That little exercise of coming up with chocolate goodies actually already helped my mood!

This is not one of those quinoa and celery stick recipes that you lose weight just reading about. This is a pick me up, I need chocolate goodness in the form of a cookie, I am hording all of these cookies to myself kind of treat. Maybe not that last one. I may have gone too far. Either way, I don’t think you could be disappointed with these.

This recipe is actually from Travis’ family and I think it was a requirement that I learn how to make these cookies before he married me. Just joking…kind of. At any rate, since baking and cooking are kind of like an obsession of mine I really didn’t have any reason not to learn something new!

When I first made these cookies the ingredients kind of took me by surprise. If you couldn’t tell I’m the kind of person who is into fresh and pure ingredients and the fact that there was shortening AND margarine was CraZY to me! In fact, I even tried to make this recipe substituting butter for some of the fat because I needed to try. Try as I might, the recipe stands. And it’s a winner. So pardon my shortening and margarine but this recipe just needs to be shared with the world.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Yields 36
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Prep Time
20 min
Cook Time
10 min
Prep Time
20 min
Cook Time
10 min
Ingredients
  1. 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
  2. 2 1/2 tablespoons margarine
  3. 1/2 cup sugar
  4. 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  5. 1 egg
  6. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  7. 1 3/4 cups flour
  8. 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  9. 1/2 teaspoon salt
  10. 1 cup chocolate chips (I used mini)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Cream shortening, margarine, sugar, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla with mixer.
  3. Mix in flour, baking soda, and salt until just combined.
  4. Stir in chocolate chips.
  5. Roll into 1 inch balls and bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 8-10 minutes, or until lightly golden brown.
Notes
  1. Before baking, I will sometimes slightly push the dough balls down (so they look like a hockey puck) so that they spread out more. You can also just leave them as balls and they turn out fine!
  2. You can freeze the dough after forming it into 1 inch balls. Then when you need to make cookies, you have perfectly formed cookie dough balls! I've baked them straight from the freezer but it's probably best to let them defrost slightly before going in the oven.
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/

 

 

Lemon Extract

What do you think of when you think of lemons? Lemonade? Well that’s a good thought. I like lemonade. But that’s not what I was thinking of.  I think of the trip that my husband and I took to Italy a few years back. We went on a tour to the Amalfi Coast, where lemons were in abundance. To get to the coast, the little bus we were on had to make some turns that I’m pretty sure a bus shouldn’t make, especially on a road where one side was a cliff down into the Mediterranean. *Oh man* But, we all made it thanks to our wonderful bus driver who apparently was used to those turns and I live to tell the story.

It seemed like limoncello was literally EVERYWHERE in every single shop and every single place we went on the Amalfi Coast. The store owners pretty much chased us down to give us samples. But we also saw some good ol’ plain lemons. Case and point, here are some lemons we saw just sitting there in front of a truck waiting to go somewhere to be delicious. Now, I’m used to lemons like you see in the yellow bins there. But, then shift your eyes to the ENORMOUS lemons in the black bin. Whoa!! I certainly do not know what they are…I’m sure they have a special name. I’m just going to call them gigantic lemons because that’s what they look like to me.

At any rate, on a rainy day like today, it makes me smile thinking about these lemons and the beautiful coast of Italy. When you make this, if you close your eyes maybe you can picture yourself there too. Or maybe you’re not good at pretending. In that case, just enjoy the lemon extract!

Lemon Extract
Homemade lemon extract in a couple of months!
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Prep Time
5 min
Prep Time
5 min
Ingredients
  1. zest from 1 lemon (preferably organic)
  2. 1 cup vodka
Instructions
  1. Zest 1 lemon using a microplane, or vegetable peeler. Use the top, yellow layer of the lemon trying to avoid the white pith as much as possible.
  2. Put the zest and the vodka in a mason jar and shake. Place in a cool, dark place and let sit for 1-2 months. Shake the jar occasionally.
Notes
  1. Use organic lemons if possible because the pesticides from the lemon can seep into the extract easily. If after 2 months the flavor is not as strong as you want, you can let the extract sit for longer or strain the zest and add fresh zest from another lemon.
Flavor From Scratch https://www.flavorfromscratch.com/
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