Updates
Quiche! It’s what’s for dinner. Or breakfast. ‘Cuz it’s got a potato crust!
Who doesn’t appreciate a good quiche? Exactly! So when I posted a photo on Facebook of the local greens and eggs I was using to make 3 quiches (yep, that’s 3), and when friends asked about the recipe, I thought, “why not share this deliciousness with the rest of the world?”, which led to this photo/recipe/post!
I started with these gorgeous greens from local Evansville farmers Clint and Brandi at Aficionado Farms. This mixture of green goodness, called Energy Mix, contains small leaf kale, chard, and spinach. Because the greens were still moist having been recently picked, no oil was needed–I only had to toss them in a pan with chopped garlic and salt until they wilted.
Ah, those eggs! Isn’t the color of the yolk positively dreamy? They came from the very happy and healthy chickens on Turning Point Farm in New Harmony, IN, about 40 minutes up the road. I mixed 18 of those jewels into the sauteed greens.
To which I added whipping cream and grated cheese, so it looked liked this liquidy heaven:
Next up was the roasting of the veggies. Easy-Peasy –> just toss veggies of your choice with olive oil and salt/pepper. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes total, stirring things up at the 10-minute mark.
The secret to this fabulous quiche is the potato crust, which is super easy and fun to make! Shred red potatoes and purple onion in a food processor; mix with egg whites; add salt and pepper, then bake. Bam! And while the crust is baking, that’s your window to be making the filling and roasting the veggies.
The recipe below will provide the details so you too can create potato crust magic.
Layer the roasted veggies into the finished crust and ladle in the filling. Note that the filling will ooze down into the cooked crust, before more baking. That’s a good thing!
Here are the masterpieces, assembled, prior to baking.
At this point, you can either freeze the quiche to enjoy at a later time or bake it. To freeze, since one of my containers had a matching lid, it went right into the freezer. For the other quiche which was prepared in a baking dish without a matching lid, I used heavy-duty foil that I crimped at the top, after having created a “tent” in the foil. This makes it less likely that the foil will stick to that rich filling, while the quiche is freezing. I’m giving that one to a friend who has recently had a baby. She’ll simply thaw the quiche for 6 hours, then bake it. This meal, regardless of whether she eats it a 0300 or for dinner is rich with healthy fat, protein, micronutrients from the veggies, and it’s full of flavor. Not to mention love…
And, viola! this is the finished quiche, cooked to perfection! Check out the recipe, below. Enjoy! xoxo
Robin’s Quiche Recipe:
Ingredients:
Crust:
- 2 large red potatoes, grated
- 1 small purple onion, grated
- 1 egg white, beaten (add the yolk to the quiche filling)
- ½ -tsp salt
Filling:
- 4 eggs
- 1 pint heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup grated cheese
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- Sautéed greens
- Sautéed veggies
- Dill, fresh or dried
- Salt and pepper
Preparation:
- Preheat the over to 400 degree; oil a 9-inch pie pan.
- Combine grated potato and onion, salt and egg white in a bowl, and mix well.
- Transfer to an oiled glass pie pan, pat into place, building up the sides.
- Bake for 30 minutes, then brush the crust with olive oil, and bake it for 10 more minutes. Remove from oven, and turn the temperature down to 375.
- While the crust is baking, roast or sauté the veggies lightly, and set aside. Sauté the greens, and set aside.
- Beat the eggs, add the cheese and cream, and blend well. Add the greens. Season with dill, salt and pepper.
- Remove the baked crust from the oven, line with sautéed veggies; pour over the egg mixture.
- Bake for 45 minutes, checking at 30 minutes; if the top is getting brown, cover with foil for the remaining of baking time.
- Test doneness with a sharp knife in the center; it should come out clean.
- Let the cooked quiche set for a few moments before cutting. Yum!
Turn Salad into a Meal — a cooking demo on WEHT, Evansville
In preparation for an upcoming cooking demo, I am posting these educational handouts to which I will be referring. Happy reading!
TEDx Evansville, Chocolate Mindfulness Exercise
A new visitor to my website has kindly pointed out that I had not posted the TEDx Talk I gave last October. Here it is — Enjoy!
Evansville Podcast — we’re talking about local, cleanly grown food!
I had the pleasure of sitting with the delightful Jason Burton several months ago to discuss the burgeoning local foods movement in Evansville, IN. Not only did we have a lot of fun, but we learned a thing or two from each other! Have a listen! https://player.fm/series/evansville-podcast/robin-mallery-river-city-food-co-op-and-heart-matters
(sub) Urban greenhouse farming
Our neighborhood farmer’s group met last week for a work-hour in the greenhouse. Remember, I am sharing this experience with 6 – 11 year olds…
Here are a few young (sub)urban greenhouse farmers introducing themselves:
A highlight of our time together was the harvest and eating of our first radish! I chopped up the greens and sliced the radish, poured a drop of home-made dressing and we dug in…
After our shared harvest, Ayva got busy with the splitting of some kale seedlings to be transplanted into a growing sack:
My buddy Kai and I have been eager to plant carrot seeds; we’re experimenting by placing seeds into the growing pellets and some directly into the soil in a growing sack. We’ll see what differences arise as the seeds sprout and grow…
This neighborhood greenhouse project brings me great joy…
Revive, With Gratitude
The last HeartMatters newsletter was titled, “On Closure, Softly”. I wrote it in June of 2012, and sent it out to the masses. My email inbox filled with responses commenting on the sensitivity with which I wrote of the journey towards my surrender—of stepping back from HeartMatters, my Coaching for Optimal Health consulting practice. Here’s the link for the story, so you can get the background, if you’d like: http://heartmatters.pro/updates/closure-softly
It is my hope now to write with that same sensitivity, as I welcome the revival of HeartMatters. Substantial life changes have occurred in the past one and one-half years, bringing insight and deepening gratitude into every day, that have liberated me to fully embrace a slower, more meaningful manner with which to move about my day.
We’ve moved from our beloved and closely connected community in Northern California to “the heartland”: Evansville, Indiana. After much soul-searching and research, my husband and I decided that what was best for us professionally, and more importantly, on a personal level, was to close his medical practice. John had been in private practice as a Cardiologist for 24 years—and it became apparent to us that our extremely busy pace of life was being dictated by government regulations, reimbursement cutbacks, and so many of our patients having lost their insurance or being under-insured…we were struggling to pay the practice overhead while maintaining a break-neck schedule to meet the needs of our patients and colleagues. We allowed ourselves to wonder if this was truly the life we were meant to live, and this exploration led us to other options. At the end of June 2013, we came to Evansville so John could look at a job within the Veteran’s Administration system. The opportunity for him was ideal: Monday-Friday, 8-4:30 in an out-patient clinic, with no on-call hours, no hospital procedures and all weekends off! What an amazing change from what he had been used to! We made our departure announcement within our community in early July, we were able to transition our patients and staff to a group of trusted colleagues, and on August 30th, John left for Evansville!
I orchestrated our move, the closing of the medical practice, the wrapping-up of our lives in the town in which we’d lived for nearly 30 years. We had many poignant moments saying goodbye to our loved ones, as well as our patients, many of whom had become like family. Not to mention our long-time staff members, who were family…there were many tears, celebrations, and send-offs. We left feeling fulfilled personally and professionally and were eager to see what our new life would bring.
So many people talked about “how brave” we were to be taking such a leap. They wondered how we’d manage the change in politics, food awareness, climate, and if we’d be able to make new friends who were like-minded thinkers. I wasn’t feeling brave, I was feeling exhilarated about the possibilities that this huge life change would bring.
What I’ve learned about myself through this experience is that I am truly an optimistic person. I anticipate the best outcome of any situation. I embraced this adventure with an open mind and simply love what has come into my life thus far. In Evansville, Indiana of all places!
I’ve been liberated from a “day job” schedule. I am able now to volunteer in ways that are deeply meaningful to me, and with time that—previous to this move—I could only wish for. Due to the variance in the cost of living in the heartland versus California, we are able to sustain a gracious and smaller-footprint lifestyle on John’s salary. Oh my. For the first time in my adult life, I haven’t held a full-time job. Amazing. What a gift!
Research before leaving California led me to Urban Seeds, a small group of committed parents (of wee-little kids!), who endeavor to bring food awareness to the Evansville community. Side note: Indiana is a central location for factory-raised animals and conventionally grown produce. A lot of chemicals are used in agriculture here—a fact that is alarming to many—and, Evansville has a high percentage of citizen’s with obesity and type 2 diabetes. The members of Urban Seeds are making slow inroads in this community to create opportunities for change around eating local, sustainably cultivated produce and animal products. I am now a proud member of their Board of Directors and look forward to contributing to their ongoing success.
As well, I’ve taken a BOD position with the local food co-op. It’s a fledgling store in a rickety old house, that is filled with positive energy and forward motion! There’s a speakers series that I’ll become part of, community promotion for shopping and eating local and away from the big box that I can get behind, all in addition to supporting the cooperative model of commerce.
I’m savoring quality time in our new kitchen, transforming love and joy into delicious meals. I’ve reconnected with my meditation practice and watch the winter birds come to our feeders. I walk with the dog. I write. I sit.
The initial professional endeavor I will pursue is a proposal to Mayor Winnecke to present “lunch and learn” workshops for the city employees and administration. Perhaps a 3-part series to focus on eating well, small-step positive behavior changes, and quieting the busy mind… This type of connection to community is one that is familiar to me, and one with which I can share my knowledge of and passion for living a balanced life.
Hence, the grateful revival of HeartMatters. My foray into the world as a woman with the time and the desire to give to others. Stay tuned!
Starbucks leadership won’t talk to me about Prop 37, the GMO labeling initiative…
Starbucks leadership will not talk to me about their position on Prop 37, the GMO labeling initiative. Starbucks is a member of the Grocery Manufacturer’s Assoc (GMA); the GMA is leading the fight to defeat Prop 37 — they are against GMO ingredients being labeled on food. I’ve exchanged several emails and two phone calls with Starbucks customer service staff, who cannot state the Starbucks policy on labeling GMOs. I spoke to a “supervisor” today who assured me that they valued my opinion. I reminded him several times, as I did in the previous phone call and numerous emails, that I wasn’t sharing my opinion, but that I was soliciting their opinion of GMO labeling. The conversation was pleasant enough and I know the mid-level supervisor is not to blame for the wall that is put up between consumers and leadership. I included in my email and on the supervisor phone call today–which was being recorded, I was told–that we are a true Starbucks family, we go nearly every day, we look for the closest Starbucks when we travel using our Starbucks phone app, we drink it at home, etc etc. That I appreciate the organic food choices they have made available now and that much of the packaging is recyclable. And that yes, I know that they do not knowingly use GMO ingredients. That’s all fine and dandy. BUT, what I want to know is: what is the position of the Starbucks leadership on GMO labeling? Am I to assume that by association–as a member of the GMA–that Starbucks too is working to defeat Prop 37? I asked to speak to someone in the legal dept; no can do, said the supervisor. I asked to speak to a senior manager in customer service. Nope. It turns out that leadership doesn’t take calls from a citizen and a concerned customer. When I ascertained that I was being recorded, I said, “so Starbucks is willing to lose a loyal and long term customer, simply because I am asking a question about their philosophy?
So, there you have it. Not only do I still want to know more about Starbucks stand on Prop 37, but I would like to know why I cannot share in an intelligent conversation with a corporate leader about this.
Is someone in the Starbucks corporate office willing to reach out? Or are you truly willing to lose a loyal customer?