Last Minute Egg White Quiche

Clearly, you can tell by my lack of presence around here, I’ve been a busy gal.  Being creative in the kitchen has taken a backseat to batch cooking, easy lunch salads, and toasted English muffins for breakfast.

Because I’m now working my old job in the evenings after I come home from an 8 hour day at my new job, dinners need to be easy and relatively quick to prepare.  I’ve turned to recipes that can cover at least a couple of weeknight meals to help take the pressure off come dinner time.

I don’t remember why I originally put that little container of egg whites in my shopping basket a couple of weeks ago, but when I realized it was still in my refrigerator the other day I figured I’d better put the whole thing to use before it’s due date. 

What to do with 2 full cups of egg whites?  Well, I don’t need any meringues right now so instead I thought of a quick quiche.  Or frittata.  If it doesn’t have a crust, I guess it’s a frittata.  Or crustless quiche?  Aren’t those the same thing?  Quiche-tata?

Anywho… digging around in the fridge and freezer brought me a selection of ingredients that all worked together, so a wee bit of chopping and whisking later I had this bad boy baking away in the oven.

Deeeelish.  If I do say so myself.

Crustless Egg White Quiche/Frittata

yields 6 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 cups egg whites
• 1/2 cup milk (I used 1%)
• 150 grams black forest ham (from the deli), chopped
• 1 cup fresh baby spinach, chopped
• 8-10 crimini mushrooms, sliced
• 4 green onions, chopped
• lots of fresh dill, chopped
• salt, pepper, TJ’s 21 spice salute, paprika
• 1/3 cup parmesan cheese, finely grated
• 1 cup cheddar cheese, grated

Would be soooo good with caramelized onions, or roasted garlic, or bacon, or zucchini, or feta, or hmmm…well…you get the idea. 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray a pie plate with cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together egg whites, milk, herbs, and seasoning.  Stir in ham, spinach, mushrooms, onions, and a little more than half of each cheese.
3. Carefully pour the mixture into the pie plate, ensuring the ‘fillings’ are evenly dispersed.  Sprinkle remaining cheeses over top.  Sprinkle with a little extra paprika for colour.
4. Bake for approximately 35-40 minutes.  (I checked mine at 30 minutes and it was still jiggly, but at 35 it was puffing up and at 40 it was perfect).  Let stand 3-5 minutes.  Slice and serve!

Honestly I wasn’t expecting much but this turned out great.  In fact it was even better on days 2 and 3 after having the chance to firm up in the fridge.  Basically it’s like breakfast for dinner!  and who doesn’t love that?!

Needless to say I think a few more of those little cartons of egg whites might find their way into my shopping cart again.  Easy, peasy, delish.