Vegan Spinach Artichoke Quiche

My life has been full of happy acts of serendipity – making wonderful discoveries when, in fact, I had started out looking for something else.

Latest case in point:  this low-cal, egg-free, dairy-free, gluten-free Artichoke Spinach Quiche.

It was supposed to be an artichoke spinach dip, from Alicia Simpson’s book Quick and Easy Low-Cal Vegan Comfort Food.

But something went wrong.

I’m sure it was some sort of error on my part, as I’ve had great success with Alicia’s recipes before.

Perhaps I used too much spinach (a 10 oz. package was called for; I used about 3/4 of a 16 oz bag.

Or perhaps my  my oven burns a little hotter than Alicia’s.

But when I took the pan out of the oven, the dip was – well, not very diplike.  Kind of solid, in fact.  Not spreadable at all!

In fact it seemed more like a quiche!  Not only did it look like a quiche, it tasted quiche-like as well!

A few very small tweaks here and there, a slightly longer cooking time – and voila!  My new favorite breakfast or brunch!

It’s incredibly easy to make.

It’s incredibly flavorful.

It’s relatively inexpensive since you don’t need to rely on any costly faux cheeses.  (Please, if I see any more recipes calling for cups and cups of Daiya, I’ll barf.)

And, if necessary, you can cook the quiche the day before, refrigerate overnight, and heat individual slices the next morning in the microwave – it’s still good.

Ingredients:

• One Package Silken or Soft Tofu
• Two Large Cloves Garlic, chopped
• 1/2 Teaspoon Minced Onion
• 1/4 Cup Canola Oil
• 1/4 Cup Nutritional Yeast
• 1 Teaspoon Salt
• 1/4 – 1/2 Teaspoon Black Pepper
• 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
• One 14 oz. Can Artichoke Hearts, drained
• 12 oz. Frozen Spinach (about 3/4 of a 1-lb bag)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray a 9.5 inch pie pan with nonstick cooking spray or mist lightly with oil.
• Chop the artichokes or pulse briefly in the blender.  You don’t want a mush; just small pieces. Remove and set aside.
• Defrost the spinach in the microwave.  While the spinach is defrosting …
• Combine the silken tofu, garlic cloves, minced onion, canola oil, nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, and lemon juice in the blender.  Blend till smooth.
• Drain excess water (if any) from defrosted spinach.  In a large mixing bowl, stir the artichokes and spinach together.  Pour the tofu mixture on top and mix well.
• Pour into pie pan and bake for approximately 40 minutes, or until top is just lightly browned.
• Let cool for 10 minutes.

Notes:

• To make this more like a traditional quiche, use a vegan pie crust.  Whole Foods offers a vegan version, and the Harris Teeter store brand also appears to be vegan.  Beware – most of the Pillsbury pie crusts contain lard.
• I usually prefer to forego the pie crust to save calories.  If you slice the quiche into 8 pieces it’s 119 calories per serving;  if you slice it into 6 more generously sized pieces it’s 159 calories per serving.
• Serve with a side of fresh fruit.

Tagged as: dairy free, egg free, gluten free, spinach artichoke dip, spinach artichoke quiche, vegan, vegan quiche, vegetarian

Categorised in: Breakfasts & Brunches, Meatless Mains, Top 12, Vegan Recipes