Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Asparagus Quiche and Vegan Baklava



















This is a meal that I prepared last week when I was using up the last of my asparagus harvest. Now we are on to broccoli which you'll be seeing several recipes using this veggie soon as I will also be blanching and preparing it for the freezer. More on this later!

CALLING ALL REAL WOMEN....
For now I have an Asparagus Quiche to share with you. In areas north of me, you may still be able to get some fresh asparagus for quiche, but broccoli would also make a good sub. For this meal I was re-inspired when I saw Melody's (melomeals blog) tofu quiche and got a good giggle out of Kleopatra's comment ("REAL WOMEN EAT TOFU QUICHE."). I found this quiche recipe in Bryanna's Vegan Feast archives (link to her recipe below) and decided to give it a try. I made several changes, like vegan bacon bits instead of the veg canadian bacon option and I used a homemade parmesan made from english walnuts which I also sprinkled on the top of my quiche. Overall I would rank it okay, I like a firmer texture quiche like a pound of regular firm tofu would provide. This one definetely has a creamy smooth texture, good flavor, and will impress. My husband liked it, son wouldn't consider it, daughter said, "It's alright, will you leave me alone so I can eat now!"

NOTE: I have made a form of quiche several times over the years in a variety of ways. My first quiche came from the book called TOFU and SOYFOODS COOKERY by Peter Golbitz. I think of all the quiches I have made I like the one from Peter's book the best which takes firm regular tofu, but I am the only one in my family who does so I guess it's really a personal preference. An interesting note here is that Peter uses many of Bryanna's recipes and I think the quiche from that book is a variation that also came from her.

I served this meal with some fresh edible pod peas (sugar snap variety) and hummous dip (green persian style is my fav with the peas) because I had alot of them. To finish the meal I made Bryanna's ROSEWATER vegan BAKLAVA (link to the blog page this recipe is posted). Mine turned out dark because I used organic sucanat sugar, but it was tastey. We all enjoyed the baklava immensely, but then I usually sarcastically say to the family whenever they rave about fatty, sugary foods, "Yeah, yeah, yeah.... anything full of fat and sugar you love. But it doesn't love you back, so go easy on the dessert!"

My variation of BRYANNA'S VEGETARIAN ASPARAGUS QUICHE
(click to link to her recipe in the Vegan Feast Archives)
The quiche needs to be cooled at least to room temperature to be firm.
9" unbaked pie shell
1/2 lb. thin young asparagus, trimmed and sliced into 1” pieces on the diagonal, steamed tender or broiled
2 Tbsp vegan bakon bits
1/4 c. dairy-free Parmesan substitute
1/2 c. firm silken tofu (it might form up is med firm regular tofu is used)
1 "chicken-style" vegetarian bouillon cube (or enough for 1 c. liquid), crumbled
1 and 1/2 T. cornstarch plus a pinch of Spanish saffron
1/2 tsp. agar powder (or 1 T. flakes)
a pinch of pepper and nutmeg
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (or 400 degrees F for individual quiches).
Pre-bake the crust (prick all over with a fork) for 5 minutes.
Place the steamed aspargus in the crust. Sprinkle with bakon bits. Blend the remaining ingredients well in the blender and pour over veggies in the crust. Bake 10 minutes, then cover edges of pastry with strips of foil and bake 20 minutes more (or bake individual quiches at 400 degrees F for 25 minutes). The quiche needs to be cooled at least to room temperature to be firm, and keeps well, refrigerated, for a few days. You could also make mini-quiche-tarts with this mixture.

PIE CRUST
(Link to the recipe in Bryanna's Vegan Feast Recipe Archives, scroll down under PUMPKIN RECIPES, to get to a pastry crust link, double crust recipe also listed there)
This recipe makes a light and tender crust with half wholewheat flour, half the fat of ordinary pastry, and utilizes oil rather than hydrogenated fats or butter. Pure (rather than extra-virgin) olive oil makes an excellent baking fat.

1/2 c. minus 1 T. white cake or pastry flour plus 1/2 c. wholewheat flour

OR

1/2 c. minus 1 T. wholewheat pastry flour plus 1/2 c. unbleached white flour

3/8 tsp. each baking powder, sugar and salt
3 T. soy or nut milk
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. In a smaller bowl, whisk the non-dairy milk-lemon juice mixture with the oil. Quickly stir the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients and mix briefly, forming the pastry into a ball. If it's too dry, add cold water just a few drops at a time until it holds together. Don't over-mix or the pastry will be tough.

11 comments:

urban vegan said...

vegan quiche? vegan baklava? at the same meal?
you are truly a vegan diva. ;)

MeloMeals said...

looks great! I like my quiche firm too... the last one I made was way too creamy.. (I used a mixture of lite firm tofu, white beans and chickpea flour).. I like it a lot more with extra firm regular tofu only..

the baklava looks amazing.

Vicki's Vegan Vice said...

i'm a real woman...you can send some of that asparagus quiche my way to prove it! awesome post as always, dori. :)

KleoPatra said...

Dori, you rock! That is a great meal you made and i love that you totally know we can AND we DO eat tofu quiche - and eat it proudly, with a smile on our faces!!

funwithyourfood said...

vegan Baklava?!
wow i was just wondering if there was such this yesterday while i was talking to someone on Veggie boards

cool!

Teddy

t. said...

Wow, the quiche sounds so good and it looks terribly delicious!
Thanks a million for the link to the homemade dog food! I am still reaserching on the topic of veggie treats for cats and dogs but it is proving REALLY hard! I found loads of online stores selling veggie multivitamins for cats and dogs but no recipe yet. OH well, I just have to keep on looking!

Dori said...

I was checking this out myself this afternoon and hit a goldmine called
www.i-love-dogs.com

Although many of the recipes are not veg... I think they can be adapted. I read somewhere else that the protein content must be 20-30%, adjust carbs to the activity level of the dog. Make sure to add nutiritonal yeast to get the b 12.

t. said...

Dori thanks a million!
I am going to try one of the recipes out this week and post sometimes next week together with links to veggie multivitamins for dogs!

I just hope my dog likes it!!!

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