Spinach and Mushroom Quiche Cups

It's true--I learned a lot on how to cook from my mom. She's half Portuguese and half Chinese, which essentially means that she doesn't use recipes. Ever. And so, in turn, I never really used recipes and learned to cook mostly through experimentation (which probably led to my current habit of adapting recipes even when I do use one). In fact, part of the reason why I wanted to start this foodie blog in the first place was that my friends and family kept asking me for recipes of things I made and I always shrugged my shoulders and said "I don't have a recipe, but if you come back over to my place, I will make it for you again..." But then I would make an amazing dish--by accident, of course--and never be able to recreate it because I never wrote down what I did that worked out so well...and so, this blog is partially a challenge and incentive to myself to try to keep track of what I am doing in the kitchen (so perhaps you can benefit from it someday by following an easy recipe!).
That said, I made these quiche cups this weekend without any recipe, so I have to rely on my memory of a similar recipe...but quiche is actually really easy to make and quite delicious, so I recommend trying it sometime with your favorite ingredients...There are soooo many quiche recipes out there and I find that they vary widely on the egg to milk ratio, but I have experimented with different ratios and, as long as the eggs are equal to or greater than the quantity of milk, it will work out fine and it just depends on your taste preferences (whether you like quiche to be really eggy or...not so much)--just be careful not to put too much milk! I made these ones with fat-free egg substitute just to see how it would turn out--and it was delicious!

I really like cafes that serve a wedge of warm quiche with a side of mixed green salad...I find that there is something innately cozy about quiche...don't you?!


INGREDIENTS:

* 1 small onion, chopped
* 5 or 6 button or cremini mushrooms
* 1 cup fresh spinach
* 1 frozen pie shell, slightly defrosted
* 1 cup of shredded cheese (mozarella, fontina, cheddar, jack, colby, etc.)
* 3 eggs (I used a fat-free egg substitute)
* 3/4 cup of milk
* salt & pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

* Sautee onion and mushrooms until softened.
* Add spinach and cook until it wilts.
* Use pie shell as is or re-shape it into 3 smaller oven-proof ramekins.
* Bake pie crust for 5 or 6 minutes.
* While crust is baking, mix together eggs, milk, and salt and pepper.
* Take crust out of oven.
* Add alternate layers of veggie mixture and cheese into the pie crust.
* Fill with egg mixture without letting it overflow! (there may be some egg mixture left over)
* Bake in oven for 30-35 minutes if using pie shell or about 18-20 minutes if using smaller ramekins or until set (i.e.: the egg business doesn't jiggle if you gently shake the pan).
* Remove from oven and let sit and cool.