I recently told a client I don’t know how to not make my meals pretty. It’s just something I do now. Whether it’s incorporating a wide variety of colours into a dish, or plating it in a certain manner, I just don’t know how to do it any other way now.
I don’t know why I started doing it, but I know why I keep doing it:
it makes me feel more connected to my food
it makes me excited to eat!
it allows me to be creative
it makes for some damn good Instagram photos (okay, that one’s a bit selfish)
Now sure, a meal can look good, but does it taste good? That’s another aspect of cooking I seem to be getting better at (phew!). With each dish, I surprise myself even more. It’s taken practice to get to the point where I know what tastes good together in a meal, and this one’s no different.
I really surprised myself with this one. On the very first bite, my eyes widened in surprise and delight when I exclaimed (out loud to myself), “Mmm! That’s so good!!”. Practice enough and it’ll happen for you, too!
Using simple steps to get you more familiar with food is one of my goals in life. Try this recipe out and if you feel you need more help getting to a point where you’re more comfortable with making things taste good effortlessly, hit me up. I’d love to chat!
RECIPE: Deep Dish Quiche
SERVINGS: 4
TIME: 1 hour
TASTE: savoury & mildly sweet
ACTION: warming & satiating
Ingredients
Crust (adapted from COOKIE & kate):
2C almond meal
1t garlic powder
1t dried thyme
1/2t sea salt
ground black pepper, to taste
1/3c avocado oil
1T + 1t filtered water
Filling:
1 medium sweet onion, sliced lengthwise
1 medium leek, halved then sliced into 1/2” pieces
1 small zucchini, cubed
8-10 cherry tomatoes, halved
2C (handfuls) spinach, lightly chopped
sea salt & ground black pepper, to taste
6 eggs, whisked
Instructions
Set oven to 400F.
Whisk dry crust ingredients (everything before almond oil) together in a bowl, then add in oil & water and fold to incorporate.
Either split crust between two porcelain baking dishes (4” wide, 2” tall), pressing until 1/2cm thick on the bottom and up the sides.
Bake for 10-12 minutes and remove from oven.
Heat 1T coconut oil in a large pan on medium heat.
While crust is baking, slice and dice veggies. Once pan is warm, toss in onions and stir frequently until just softened (approximately 3 minutes).
Add leeks and stir every 30 seconds or so until just softened. Add a sprinkle of sea salt and ground black pepper.
Add zucchini and stir, then cover the pan with a lid. Stir every minute or so until zucchini is just softened.
Remove from heat and split veggies between baking dishes. Top with cherry tomatoes, then spinach, a little more sea salt & ground black pepper, and finally the whisked eggs, splitting all ingredients between dishes.
Place two baking dishes back in the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until eggs are fully cooked but not hard.
Remove from oven and let cool a bit before cutting and serving. Enjoy!