So today is one of my “days off”  (ha ha… no really, that’s what I call them).

Have 700 hundred million things to do for work (maybe a slight exaggeration), on top of a top-up fresh food shop, dinner prep of course, usual household chores PLUS cleaning our deck (Georgie, the 17 year old golden retriever who is both almost blind and deaf, thought it might be a good idea to tread in her own poop and mush it all over our white patio tiles).  Sighh…  As a bonus, going past my favourite butcher’s shop today (The Butcher Shoppe at Cannon Hill) and they had pork fillets (tenderloin) at $22/kg – so I picked up 2 of those, and also 2kg of brisket for the next traditional recipe I plan to conquer… the Chinese beef brisket.  Still working on that recipe – stay tuned.  Love stopping to have a chat to the team at the butcher’s too – Brad, Jeff, Marc and the gang are always up for a chin wag and are so friendly and nice. They even chop my brisket up so I don’t have to!

So anyways, up for a easy, healthy dinner to prep for tonight – making dinner for my lovely in-laws who are being kind enough to come over and babysit the kids so Troy and I can head out (woot woot!).

They don’t eat red meat and aren’t terribly fussy, but I’m pretty sure they enjoy most of the meals I make for them.  Tonight, a fancy version of a speedy, weekly favourite!  Actually, it’s not that fancy… I just found some goat’s cheese in fridge and I’m just saying that makes it fancy –  ha ha.  But seriously, how GOOD is Aussie goat’s cheese?  It really does add another dimension to the humble quiche.

I can’t blog too long today, internet was down all morning and it has meant I have done nothing yet of the work I have to do (…yes, and am procrasti-blogging currently) but I thought I’d share this favourite family meal with you.  My kids love quiche (or really anything that has crunchy pastry on it) – and it’s a good way to get a decent serve of veggies into them disguised in all that cheesy, eggy, creamy goodness!

Quiches are soooo easy to do.  You can make them more complicated and make the pastry yourself and prep more complex ingredients but really… who has time for that? Not me!

The ingredients I used in this quiche can totally be changed – and I do, depending on what I have fresh in my fridge at the time… and if not fresh, what I have in the pantry and freezer.  The basic quiche mix I use is:

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 sheets of pre-bought supermarket puff pastry (actually I use about 1.5 sheets – but whatever you need to cover the bottom of your quiche pan)
• 5 eggs (I use free-range jumbo)
• 1 cup (or thereabouts – I just throw in handfuls till it looks right) of shredded low fat tasty cheese
• about half a cup of shredded parmesan for topping (freshly grated is best of course, but I have a pack of pre-grated when I don’t have time)
• 1 cup (250mL) of cream (I use lactose free light cream)
• salt and pepper
• AND whatever fillings you want – see below

The fillings I used today are:

• 2 small bunches of fresh coriander chopped (you can use basil, parsley, oregano – whatever)
• a handful of chopped fresh red capsicum (for colour; you can use whatever vegetables you have – broccoli/cauli florets, chopped asparagus, grated carrot, tomatoes etc)
• 1 small grated zucchini
• 1 cup frozen peas and corn (fresh is better, but I always have frozen in the freezer – and there is no prep!)
• 1-2 cups of pulled roast chicken meat (I bought a supermarket BBQ chook today for the kids for lunch – this was the rest of it; you can substitute cooked diced bacon/mince/sausage – whatever)
• 4 spring onions – finely chopped
• 150g block of goat’s cheese (I used Meredith Dairy Australian Goat’s Cheese – found in the deli section of the supermarket)

METHOD:

1. Line your quiche dish and blind bake your pastry for about 15-20 min in a moderate (~150 deg C fan forced) oven
2. Whilst your pastry is baking, lightly beat your eggs with a fork and mix in your cream (use a big bowl)
3. Add your meat and vegies and mix well
4. Add your grated cheddar, salt and pepper
5. Pour into quiche pastry and top with parmesan and crumbled goat’s cheese
6. Bake in a moderate oven for about 25-30 min until golden brown on top and cooked through

Serve with salad or tonight, I am doing spiced, stir fried cauliflower florets on the side.

Nom nom nom!!

Happy eating!

xx Dr Megs