wee sized herbed tofu quiche!

I've been dying for some mini tart pans or pie plates lately, but was too cheap to buy my own. Imagine my glee, when I found them at my local Ace hardware store for $1.79 each! I ran home with them and made some mini quiches in whole grain pie crusts. The dough recipe was from The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen, by Peter Berley. This may be the first recipe I've tried from the book, but I was very satisfied. Besides whole wheat pastry flour, the recipe calls for toasting rolled oats and sesame and grinding them into the dough. The resulting dough wasn't very delicate, but incredibly aromatic. Besides, I often prefer a hearty whole grain crust over one more delicate and refined, so I was happy. I adapted the quiche recipe from my website, and if you don't have four mini pans, you can use it to make one normal sized quiche. A single crust recipe yields just enough for four mini quiches! Here's how I made them:

What You Need:

• 1 cup frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry (thaw and squeeze before measuring)
• 1 teaspoon Tony Charchare's salt free seasoning (you can use any salt free creole/cajun seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 pound extra firm tofu, squeezed to remove liquid
• 1/2 cup plain soymilk
• 1 teaspoon wet mustard
• 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 2 1/2 tablespoons vegan parmesan
• Cayenne, to taste
• 1/3 cup packed fresh basil
• 1/3 cup fresh herbs (I used marjoram and sage, you could just use more basil if that's easier)
• 1 9" unbaked pie crust, or four mini ones about 4 inches in diameter
• paprika and thinly sliced tomato for garnish

What You Do:

1. Set aside 1/3 cup of the squeezed spinach and chop finely.
2. In a food processor, puree the remaining ingredients until smooth.
3. Stir in the chopped spinach and season to taste with more cayenne and salt if needed..
4. Pour the tofu mixture into your unbaked crust (or divide equally in quarters for mini quiches) and garnish with tomato and paprika.
5. Bake at 400F for about 30 minutes or until somewhat set in the middle. If the edges begin to brown, cover with strips of foil.
6. Let rest 20 minutes and slice.

I like to eat these chilled straight out of the fridge. xo kittee