Mixed Vegetable Quiche

Here’s a great plant-based recipe for your holiday enjoyment. From breakfast to brunch to lunch to appetizers to dinner, this savory pie will fill the bill nicely every time.

Originating in northeastern France in the region of Alsace-Lorraine, traditional quiche (keesh) consists of a pastry shell filled with a savory custard made of eggs, cream, seasonings and herbs, and a combination of other ingredients. This plant-based version replaces the eggs and cream with velvety pureed tofu and unsweetened non-dairy milk to achieve a very delicious and believable facsimile.

The vegetable filling has sautéed Mexican green onions, roasted Baby Dutch Yellow® potatoes, a medley of rehydrated dried mushrooms, fire-roasted red bell peppers, and minced fresh garlic. The “custard” consists of pureed organic firm tofu, unsweetened oat milk, turmeric, nutritional yeast, fresh ground pepper and kala namak—a kind of black salt from South Asia that adds the aroma and flavor of eggs.

If you have mad pie crust-making skills, then I say go for it. On the other hand, I know where my baking skills fall short, so I used a 9” deep dish frozen pie shell (lard less) and got great results.

This recipe easily lends itself to modifications, so feel free to play around with your favorite ingredients. Whether it’s for the holidays or just to make a regular day special, you can serve plant-based quiche with culinary confidence.

Mixed Vegetable Quiche
Serves 6

Ingredients
Custard
1 ½ packages Organic Firm Tofu, crumbled
4 tablespoons unsweetened oat or almond milk
1 1/4 teaspoons ground turmeric or ¾ teaspoon fresh turmeric, grated
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 ½ teaspoons kala namak (black salt)
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Vegetable Filling
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 Mexican green onions, diced
1 package (0.5 oz) Melissa’s Dried Mushroom Medley, rehydrated, drained and diced
¾ cup roasted Baby Dutch Yellow® potatoes, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ cup fire-roasted red bell peppers, diced
Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper

1 9” frozen deep-dish pie crust (plant-based without lard)

Preparation
To make the custard, add the crumbled tofu and the oat or almond milk to a high-speed blender and process until thick and smooth. Add additional milk if necessary. Add the turmeric, kala namak, nutritional yeast and black pepper and process until well combined. Set aside.

To make the vegetable filling, add the olive oil to a sauté pan over medium heat. Add in the green onions and the dried mushrooms and sauté for 3 minutes. Add in the garlic, red peppers, and diced potatoes and sauté for another 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Combine the vegetable filling with the tofu custard and then add this mixture to the pie crust, smoothing out the top. Place the quiche on a baking sheet and bake for 35-40 minutes until the filling is firm and the top is golden brown. (If the rim of the crust starts to brown too soon, cover the rim with aluminum foil.)

Remove the quiche from the oven and let it rest on a cooling rack for at least 30 minutes before slicing.