Quick Little Quiches

I am in need of a change in my Egg Beater omelet breakfast routine, and a coworker of mine sent me this recipe that's both very easy and very versatile. You can change these up with a whole variety of mix-ins depending on what you like, and these go great from freezer to microwave.

South Beach Mini Quiches

Ingredients:
3/4 cup liquid egg substitute or 3 large eggs or 3 /4 cup egg whites
1 package frozen chopped spinach (10 oz.)
3/4 cup shredded reduced-fat cheese
1/4 cup diced red or green peppers or mixture of both
1/4 cup diced onions
Salt and pepper to taste
Option: fajita spices
Option: garam masala

Preparation:
Makes 12 mini-quiches
Need: Foil baking cups, muffin tin, cooking spray, oven

1. Heat oven to 350F

2. Line 12 cup muffin pan with foil baking cups, spray the cups with the cooking spray. Be sure not to omit this step, or the quiches will stick badly to the baking cups.

3. Thaw and drain spinach

4. Mix the spinach, eggs or egg substitute, cheese, peppers, onions, hot pepper sauce, salt in a bowl.

5. Fill the foil cups with the mixture.

6. Bake at 350F or 20 minutes. You will know they are done when a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

7. Remove from cups to serve.

Fajita spice variation: Add fajita spice to taste at step 4 (a dash to 1/8 teaspoon). If you like it spicy, you may even want to add a bit of chopped jalapeno.

Indian variation: Add garam masala to taste at step 4 (a dash to 1/8 teaspoon).

Nutrition: Approximately 40 calories each.


I forgot about the green pepper while prepping, which I think ended up for the better for this variation. My version used spinach, a blend of reduced fat Italian cheese, the onions, black pepper, and about 1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes for some heat. So easy to make, and very tasty!






Three of them made for a good small breakfast, maybe supplemented with a yogurt or some toast, and I've frozen the rest in bags of 3 for later this week. Hopefully this will save me some time in the morning, too, as it always takes about an extra 10-15 minutes for me to make my breakfast every day. Those minutes count!