Lighten Up! Ham and Spinach Quiche

What’s better than a delicious, lower fat Quiche on a Saturday night? I’ll tell you what. When you’ve got a tall, dark, and handsome pal making it for you!

Enter my friend, Jay, writer, actor, sometimes model, and oh, by the way, also a classically trained chef. Seriously, more creative energy than one person ought to be gifted with. It’s a good thing he’s only a so-so volleyball player or I’d be so jealous of him. BAHAHAHAHA!  Just kidding, Jay 🙂

Here he is showing off his mad skillz in the k’chn…

When he messaged me to say he had an awesome healthy Quiche recipe for me, I jokingly replied, “Great! When are you coming over to cook for us?” He gobbled up that bait and we had a great night cooking, drinking and eating. Me, Jay, Markus, Shannon and my mum. Oh yeah, and the kids. But we made them eat in the kitchen 🙂

Here’s me flanked by my Harry Potter steadies, Shan and Jay…

The Quiche was really, really good. A great weekend supper or brunch. Nothing about it says, “I’m good for you!” It’s filling, cheesy, full of spinach, and has great flavor thanks to fresh chives. Mix it up with a different kind of cheese, veggies, or meat. The typical egg/cream mixture is replaced with egg whites and cottage cheese blended to creamy smoothness.

The crust is store-bought, and the only source of significant fat.  We went with a basic Marie Callendar’s pie crust, rather than fiddle with making our own. There are others out there to choose from, some with more fiber and less fat. Check out this cool Good Housekeeping review of pie crusts!

Lighten Up! Ham and Spinach Quiche
from Cuisine Lite cookbook
Makes 8 portions

1 frozen deep-dish pie crust, thawed (9-inch)
3/4 cup 2% or non-fat cottage cheese
9 egg whites
3 eggs
1/4 cup diced onion
2 teaspoon olive oil
3 cups baby spinach
4 ounces ham steak, diced
1 tablespoon minced chives
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (we didn’t use this)
1/4 cup shredded fontina cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

1) Prebake pie crust according to package directions.
2) Puree cottage cheese in food processor or blender until smooth. Add egg whites and eggs, and pulse until combined. Set aside.
3) Saute onion in oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add ham, chives, and pepper flakes and heat through. Add spinach and cook just until wilted.

4) Transfer the spinach mixture to the prebaked crust, and place on a baking sheet. Pout the egg mixture into the crust.
5) Sprinkle Quiche with fontina and bake until filling is set in the center, about 35-40 minutes. Let sit for 5 minutes before cutting.

Many thanks to my friends for a great night with yummy food and a ton of laughs 🙂

I hope you enjoy this as much as we did! Just moderate your wine intake so your pix don’t come out sideways 😛