Day 2: Popeye, Eat That Spinach

Steve:  Day 2 is here and Heather picked a rather versatile ingredient today. 

Day 2 Ingredient:  Spinach

Because spinach is so user friendly, my mind really went into overdrive trying to figure out what to do with it.  I could have used it raw in a salad.  I could have used it as a side dish with some other ingredients, or I could have made a dip out of it so that Heather and I could have had a nice appetizer before dinner tonight.  Any of those would have been a wonderful use of the spinach, but instead I went a different direction. 

The versatility of Spinach allows you to use it with almost any ingredients you might have in your fridge.  So today became a day when I could clean some items out of the chill box before they became throw away items.  I can't stand throwing away food, but sometimes I buy ingredients for one purpose and then lose out on them by forgetting they are in the fridge.  Today, I was able to use several ingredients that had been sitting in the fridge just waiting for their opportunity. 

Day 2 Ingredients:

2 Eggs
1 Cup Half and Half
9 oz Spinach
1 Pie Crust
1 cup Diced Deli style Turkey
1/4 cup Crumbled Blue Cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese
1/2 Tsp Kosher Salt
1/4 Tsp Black Pepper
1/2 Tsp Nutmeg

Any ideas what I am making...well here are the directions.

1. Bake pie crust according to directions on package.  When finished set aside to cool.  Move oven temperature to 350 degrees.

2. In skillet cook turkey and spinach until spinach is wilted and cooked down.  Add to bowl and wait for liquid to pool at bottom.  Pour excess liquid out of bowl. 

3.  Add Eggs and Half and Half to separate bowl and whisk to combine.  Stir in spices.

4.  Spread Parmesan Cheese evenly over the bottom of the pie crust.  Add Spinach and Turkey mixture over that and spread evenly.  Pour Egg mixture on top of that.  Do not overfill the pie with the egg mixture, having a little leftover is acceptable. 

5. Sprinkle Blue Cheese over the top of pie and bake for 45-50 minutes or until the top is springy and golden brown.  Wait at least 15 minutes to serve although 30 minutes would be worth it. 

What you end up with is ...

Day 2 Meal:  Turkey and Spinach Quiche

 I have always been a quiche fan because it can be served at almost any time of day, it is super easy to make, and because it can include so many different ingredients.  If you don't like blue cheese, use cheddar.  If you have broccoli and ham left overs, then throw them in there.  Heck, I saw a Spam quiche once.  Not gonna try that one, but quiche is certainly one of those foods that have been forgotten about in households for far too long.

This one was great.  I ate two slices of it pretty much immediately.  Plus the calorie count is really low since it doesn't call for heavy cream and you can use all low fat or fat free ingredients.  The spinach certainly stood out in this recipe which means that I should be looking like Popeye in no time.  I will definitely be making quiche again soon.  As you will see below, I paired today's entree with a bunch of red grapes, but it would work with strawberries, a small salad or some soup as well.

Heather: 
Taste-4 stars: Creativity-4 stars

When I told my friend I gave Steve the ingredient spinach today, she said, "Oh that's easy." But knowing my husband, I knew he wouldn't take the easy way out. This was a great use of today's ingredient. We both love quiche and it was delicious! I especially love the fact that he used up some things that were in the fridge before they spoiled. It's actually impressive that the only thing he had to buy was the spinach.

The taste was great, I enjoyed the flavor of the blue cheese and I knew there was some spice in it, which he revealed was nutmeg. Interesting twist. I gave him a 4 for creativity because although it was creative with the ingredients he used, spinach is a pretty common ingredient in quiches. Besides, I have to save the 5 stars for dishes that wow me!!