A Simple Table: Quiche at the Pace of Hen

Sabine of Sunshine and Shadow is begining a new series that explores ideas for living well with chronic pain/illness. Her first gathering is on cooking, a gathering of recipes from readers (hey, that's us, smile) that follow this acronym:

Delicious
Inexpensive
Nutritious
Easy to make

To see all the recipes as they gather, or add one yourself, please see Sabine's post here. My recipe for the gathering is below, adapted for my spinal injury which limits chopping and the like...perhaps it will be of use to others. At any rate, this is fun doing this : ) Thought i'd share a egg/quiche recipe not only becuase its easy but becuase the hen is rather inspiring for those of us with limits i think.....a hen may seem to be "fruitlessly" going in circles but a lot is going on unseen in deeper creativity when one takes a closer look. So it can also be with those with limits...just becuase our lives look less productive doesnt neccesarily mean there isnt more going on in other ways than meets the eye. A favorite link on "the pace of a hen" is here.

SIMPLE QUICHE:

(a little preface: if i have help chopping then i may add "harder" things, like fresh potatoes instead of the frozen corn, and the harder to cut type veggies. But here's the easy version... )

--Line a pan with parchment paper (some may want grease the pan with butter instead; i use the parchment paper in the case of quiche becuase i find the butter makes it too rich).

--Fill the pan with a nice thick layer of FROZEN CORN. Add fresh soft type VEGGIES of choice (after slicing of course)---such as mushrooms, tomatoes, bell peppers, zucchini, whatever is on hand and soft and easy to cut. Optionally, put in some fresh herbs too (basil is soooo good, especially with tomatoes). Sprinkle it all with either shredded CHEESE or parmesean cheese.

--The pan usually gets at least half full with this stuff, but i dont think more or less really matters much, the egg mix seems to seek out all the little crevices there and get in.

--Now the egg mix...use SPICE of choice (i tend to use Italian, or sometimes nutmeg), EGGS, and some sort of MILKY thing (can use milk, buttermilk, yogurt, sour creme, or combinations of). How much depends on the size of your pan and your taste...i tend to use about a tablespoon of spice, 6-8 eggs, and a cup of milky stuff.

--Its most fun to mix it in a bowl, but when flared up i use the baggie trick, which can be done one handed (and with no bowl to wash): break the eggs right into a baggie, add the rest, seal the baggie, leave it right there lying flat on the counter, and mix things around using your "good arm". (This works well for kneading too.)

Add the egg mix to the pan, bake at 325 till knife comes out clean when tested. Yummm : ) And if you used the parchment paper and the baggie trick, then there is zero clean up (well, except wiping off your cutting board that was used to slice the veggies).

Sabine's new series on living with chronic pain/illness, as well as Susan's (High Desert Home) recent simplicity series, has really inspired focusing on the "practical" stuff lately. Planning to post more this week on ideas for cooking, and simple living, when one has pain/limits (well, i hope to anyway). For now, the older stuff in the simplicity vein is here and here. Now off to Sabine's : ) ...

(Image sources unknown)