Spinach and Green Onion Mini Quiches with Quinoa Crust

I had a great time yesterday hanging out with my sweet Mama, and making these cute (and tasty) little quiches for a party I went to last night. The idea for these quiches came when I was trying to think of ways to use up some of the 2+ dozen eggs we had in the refrigerator. Some friends of ours who have chickens gave us a bunch of eggs, and we already had a dozen, so I knew I needed a recipe that would use a lot of eggs. Of course, like most good ideas, this one had already been dreamed up by many other cooks (just try searching for "quiche quinoa crust" and you'll see quite a few results). At any rate, I used this recipe as a guide, substituting spinach and green onions for the asparagus and chives since that's what I had on hand.  I imagine most vegetables would work here, but if you are using something firmer (peppers, onions, zucchini, broccoli) you should probably saute it before mixing with the raw eggs.

Quinoa Crusted Mini Quiches

Makes 24 mini quiches

recipe adapted from themuffinmyth.com

For the crusts:

3 cups cooked quinoa

3/4 cup shredded cheese (I used a sharp cheddar)

3 beaten eggs

any dried herbs or spices you'd like to add: dill, pepper, etc.

Preheat oven to 200 C / 400 F. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with muffin liners. In a large bowl mix together cooked quinoa, eggs, and cheese. Drop 2 Tbsp of quinoa crust mixture into each muffin cup and then use the back of a spoon to press the mixture down and flatten the top of each crust. Place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes, until the crusts have set. Remove from the oven to cool slightly, but leave the oven on.

For the quiches:

1 small bunch spinach, washed and chopped

4 green onions, white and dark green part only, chopped

12 eggs

1 ½ cups plain yogurt (I used sheep yogurt for extra creaminess)

1 cup shredded cheese (I used a sharp cheddar)

salt and pepper

Whisk the eggs, salt and pepper, yogurt, and green onions together. Stir in spinach and ½ the cheese. Spoon the custard over the 12 bases, filling each muffin liner nearly to the top. Set in the oven and bake for 10 minutes, until the egg has just started to set.

Remove the quiches from the oven, sprinkle the top of each quiche with shredded cheese, Return to the oven and bake for another 10 minutes, until quiches are puffed and golden. Remove from pan and set on wire rack to cool. Repeat with second set of 12.

Serve hot, room temperature or cold.