Diced! Second Round – Brittany – Loaded Veggie and Mushroom Quiche with Creamy Balsamic Dressing and Parmesan Zucchini Chips

Today we have an entrant for the second course of the Diced! competition. This round includes ingredients that are vegan friendly. Contestants were encouraged to add any additional ingredients they wished (even non-vegan ones). Contestants were instructed to create or find a recipe for a main course containing the following ingredients: Large Portobello mushrooms, Quinoa, Zucchini and Balsamic vinegar. They were instructed to make their dish and create a blog post about it, including pictures. You can help determine who advances to the next round. After the last post, I will post a poll where you can vote for contestants to move on. Vote for the post you like the best. You can vote because of the inventiveness, the yummyness, the use of ingredients, the quality of the writing and pictures or for any other reason. The poll will be active for one week only. Check back and vote. In the event of a tie, the Ranting Chef will choose who advances. More information about Diced! can be found here.

Due to the generosity of the following companies, we have some really awesome products as a prize to the winner of this Diced! competition. The winner will receive:

• Zak – The winner receives their choice of a four piece setting or set of three serving bowls from their new Moso line. This is made from biodegradable bamboo and comes in a choice of four stylish colors. Look for a review of this product in the near future. Check them out here.
• Chobani – The leading brand in Greek Yogurt, the winner will receive a case of their choice of flavor of Greek yogurt. I’ve been using quite a bit of Chobani in my cooking lately and love it. Look for those recipes soon. Check out the selection at: http://chobani.com/products
• Microplane – Microplane will provide the winner with four items: Microplane Elite Series Fine Grater, Home Series Coarse Grater, Bartender’s Garnishing Tool, Cut-Resistant Glove. I recently reviewed these products here. Check out their products at their facebook page: www.facebook.com/microplane
• Youcopia – Maker of organization products, they would like to offer the winner a choice of a product from their web site. I recently reviewed the Bake Stack.

Today’s contestant, Brittany is one of the newest cooks on the block. She really just started cooking this year and blogs her recipes over at Wine, Cheese, and Workout Capris. Check out her posts and the entry below…

Hello again! I am so excited to be participating in another round of Diced! for the main course component of the challenge. I must admit, I was quite happy when this round’s set of ingredients was revealed and I knew that I wanted to focus on the type of cooking I usually try to emulate which is creating my favorite dishes with a healthier makeover. I find that you can still eat your favorite foods without adding a lot of calories if you make some simple tweaks and that’s what I did for this recipe.

First, I was immediately inspired to recreate a dish from one of my favorite local restaurants, Mimi’s. One of my favorite things to order at Mimi’s is their quiche slices which are so tasty and decadent. However, these quiches pack a lot of calories so I wanted to make them a bit healthier by using egg whites and loads of veggies and mushrooms. I added a homemade creamy balsamic dressing for a punch of flavor on top of the quiche.

Additionally, another favorite of mine is fried pickles. I decided to also modify this concept a bit and created Parmesan zucchini chips which are just as good and a whole lot better for you! I hope you’ll enjoy my recipe for:

Loaded Veggie and Mushroom Quiche with Creamy Balsamic Dressing and Parmesan Zucchini Chips

Ingredients for the Loaded Veggie and Mushroom Quiche:

• 2 cups of egg whites (I used pre-sorted egg whites for convenience)
• 1 pie crust
• 2 or 3 portabella mushrooms
• 1 small onion
• 1 tomato
• 1 zucchini
• ½ cup of banana or jalapeno peppers
• 1-2 cups of quinoa (more or less depending on your taste preference)
• Sprinkling of parmesan or cheese of choice
• Drizzle of olive oil
• Salt and pepper (I used garlic sea salt and cracked black pepper)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  While the oven is heating, bring a pot of water to boil on the stove. Once boiling, add the quinoa and begin to cook until the water is cooked out and the quinoa has puffed up.

Chop the mushrooms, onion, tomato, zucchini, and peppers into small pieces.

Splash a bit of olive oil into the bottom of a large skillet. Add all the veggies and mushrooms and cook on medium heat until they start to soften, about 10 minutes.

Once both the quinoa and veggies and mushrooms are cooled from cooking, add them together into a large bowl. Add the egg whites and stir thoroughly.

Pour the mixture into the pie crust. It should be filled to just before the top of the crust.

Cook for 35-45 minutes or until the center is firm. Sprinkle the cheese on top of the quiche with five minutes left in the cook time so that it melts. Let the quiche cool and enjoy!

Ingredients for the Creamy Balsamic Dressing (for the top of the quiche):

Since I am new at making my own dressing, I deferred to one of my favorite sites Salad in a Jar for inspiration for this component of the recipe.

• ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon of light, low sodium soy sauce
• 1 ½ tablespoons of Dijon mustard
• 1 ½ tablespoons of honey
• 3-4 tablespoons of Greek yogurt (I used more for a creamier consistency)
• ½ teaspoon of olive oil

Stir together all ingredients thoroughly. Store in an airtight container and drizzle this over the top of your quiche and you’re set for a fun flavor combination. Plus, you can keep the leftovers for salad dressing and for topping other foods!

Ingredients for the Parmesan Zucchini Chips:

• 2 large zucchini
• ½ cup of egg whites
• 1 cup of Panko bread crumbs
• ½ cup of parmesan cheese
• Salt and pepper (I used garlic sea salt and cracked black pepper)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Slice the zucchini into thick chips. These need to be at least ¼ inch thick.

In a small bowl pour the egg whites. In another small bowl combine the panko breadcrumbs, Parmesan, and salt and pepper.

Take the zucchini chips and dip them into the egg whites and then coat them in the dry mixture.  Lay the prepared chips out on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until they are browned and crisp on the top. Let the chips cool and enjoy!

I hope you enjoyed the meal I constructed with the ingredients in this round of Diced! If you like what I created here, I’d love to see you over at my blog, Wine, Cheese & Workout Capris. Have a beautiful day and eat well!