Spinach and Bacon Quiche

My family and I have been frequenting our indoor farmer's market on the weekends. It has such a wonderful selection of locally grown/made items, including; (often organic) vegetables, leafy greens, meats, cheeses, eggs, and sometimes even ice-cream! We've been lucky to find a local source for free-range, grass-fed, antibiotic-free hen-laid eggs. You open the cartons to find eggs in such a beautiful and varying array of colors and sizes! I often buy two dozen at a time just to keep up with all the home baking and cooking we've been doing. If I get to the end of a week and have a lot of eggs left over, I'll sometimes make a quiche. It makes the perfect quick-fix for a dinner or lunch, and you can basically put anything you like (or have leftover) into the quiche!

This is a doctored version of a recipe found on the Food Network channel.

Spinach and Bacon Quiche

adapted from Paula Deen

8 servings

Ingredients:

• 5 large eggs, beaten
• 1 1/4 cups of Half and Half
• 1/4 tsp salt, dash of pepper
• Pinch of nutmeg
• 2 Cups chopped fresh baby spinach, packed
• 1 pound turkey bacon, cooked and crumbled/chopped
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese (I like to use a mix of swiss and cheddar)
• 1 (9 inch) pie crust, fitted to a 9-inch pie plate (*read more on this at the bottom of recipe)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Cook bacon and let cool. Then crumble or chop into small pieces.

Spray your pie plate with cooking spray, then fit pie crust into your pie plate.

Combine the eggs, Half and Half, salt, pepper, and nutmeg in a big bowl - wisk well.

Layer the bacon, then spinach, then cheese inside the pie crust. Pour egg mixture over the top. Bake for 35-45 minutes (mine took 40) until top is starting to just brown. The center of your quiche may still wobble a bit, but it should set up as it sits to cool slightly.

*I'm still learning to read labels. I still had pre-made pie crusts in the fridge from another quiche I made a week ago. I finally picked up the box and read the ingredient list. Ugh... I am glad I did. You can now add "pie crusts" to my list of things I won't buy in the store any more. Unless I can find them without "Partially Hydrogenated Lard"?! *gag* It also had food coloring in it - why?? And then a few other things I couldn't decipher or pronounce. Pie crusts are not that hard to make... especially if you have a nice large food processor. It's amazing what people are willing to sacrifice in the name of convenience and time saving. Or maybe they just haven't taken the time to read the labels... like me? It only took me... until now! (*Me... banging my head on the wall*) Lesson learned.