Healthy Recipe: Garden Vegetable Crustless Quiche

Memorial Day weekend is over and it's back to life, back to reality, and perhaps most importantly, back to a healthy eating routine. I don't know about you, but for our family Memorial Day seemed to mean remembering how crappy you can feel after three days of stuffing your face with bad-for-you (albeit delicious) foods like Kettle's Salt & Pepper chips, homemade guacamole, Hebrew National hot dogs and chocolate chip brownies. Did I mention they were all washed down with bottomless margaritas? Suffice to say Fabulous Flavortown quickly went the way of Heartburn City.

All we want this week is to get back on track and I have a few foolproof recipes that will do just the trick. One of my favorite healthy recipes is a crustless vegetable quiche from Cooking Light, loaded with waistline-friendly zucchini, mushrooms, bell pepper, tomatoes, eggs and low-fat cheeses. Unlike traditional quiches this one is made without a butter-laden crust, cutting tons of calories and fat. What it does have in spades, however, is flavor. All the Spring vegetables combined with fluffy eggs and sharp cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese make for a fantastic dish, whether it's for breakfast, lunch or dinner. So make it, enjoy it and save this recipe... you'll want it again and again.

Crustless Vegetable Quiche
Serves 8


Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups egg substitute
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded reduced-fat extra sharp cheddar cheese, divided
• 1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded reduced-fat Monterey Jack cheese, divided
• 1/2 cup 1% low-fat milk
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (about 2 1/4 ounces)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 (16-ounce) carton fat-free cottage cheese
• Cooking spray
• 4 cups sliced zucchini (about 4)
• 2 cups diced potato with onion (such as Simply Potatoes or Trader Joe's potato patties)
• 1 cup finely chopped green bell pepper (about 1)
• 1 (8-ounce) package pre-sliced mushrooms
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 2 tomatoes, thinly sliced

To make the quiche: Preheat oven to 400°. Beat egg substitute and eggs in a large bowl until fluffy. Add 3/4 cup cheddar cheese, 3/4 cup Jack cheese, milk, flour, baking powder, salt, and cottage cheese. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add zucchini and the next 3 ingredients (through mushrooms); sauté for 5 minutes or until tender.

Add the zucchini mixture and parsley to egg mixture. Pour mixture into a 3-quart casserole dish coated with cooking spray. 

Top with the remaining 3/4 cup cheddar cheese and 3/4 cup Jack cheese. Arrange tomato slices over cheese.

Bake at 400° for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350° (do not remove dish from oven), and bake for 35 minutes or until lightly browned and set. Remove from the oven, cut into pieces and serve immediately. Enjoy!