Healthy recipes that still taste great are an important part of Thinposterism. If I were thin, it certainly wouldn’t be burgers and pizza all the time. This dish uses plain yogurt, which is a perfect ingredient for cooking healthy, delicious food at home. You can use it to make soups creamy, use it in place of mayo in dips and salads, and thicker Greek yogurt is perfect for taking the place of sour cream almost anywhere. Here, yogurt takes the place of the heavy cream in a traditional quiche. It is not exactly the same, but it’s pretty close. One of my friends even served this to her French mother-in-law!

Today I used spring onions, spinach, Roma tomatoes, gypsy peppers, a yellow summer squash, and Asiago cheese.

I adapted this quiche from an ad for Stoneyfield yogurt. It’s a very flexible recipe as long as you stick to the basics–6 ounces of cheese, 6 ounces of yogurt, and 6 eggs. Combine it with vegetables in a pie crust, and you’re done. Every two weeks, we get a delivery of organic produce from New Roots Organics. This recipe is one of my favorite ways to put those veggies to good use.

The first step is crust. I use store-bought. I know, I know, pie crust is so easy to make on your own, especially with a food processor. But frankly, that pushes this over the edge from a simple recipe to something more complicated, and I prefer to keep it easy.  Someday, I should make a bunch of whole wheat crusts all at once and freeze them, but I haven’t gotten around to it.

Pillsbury makes a refrigerated crust that tastes pretty good, but contains some odd ingredients I’m not familiar with, which is something I try to avoid. I was happy to find a more natural brand in the grocery store, with recognizable ingredients on the label. You can also find crusts in the freezer section, but those are already molded into their own pie tins, and I like to use my own deep dish. (Trader Joe’s makes an excellent frozen pie crust, but it’s lightly sweetened and thus not  ideal for savory recipes.)

Pre-bake the crust a bit so you don’t get a soggy-bottomed quiche. 6 minutes at 450 should do it. After you take the crust out, reduce your oven temperature to 375.

Next, get your vegetables ready. Thin, round slices make for a very pretty quiche, but I prefer to dice because that makes the finished product easier to slice and eat.

The greens in my CSA bin are often quite dirty, which is fine–I would rather wash them myself. I like to soak them in the salad spinner in cold water, then rinse and spin a couple of times.

Then, grate your cheese. I tried Asiago today, but you can use absolutely any kind of cheese that sounds good: sharp cheddar, aged gouda, feta, smoked mozzarella, Gruyère…

Yep, I’m gonna cram all of that into a pie shell.

Next, beat the yogurt together with the eggs and seasonings. I use white pepper and whatever dried herbs sound good; usually basil or dill. Of course you can always use fresh herbs if you prefer them or have them on hand.

Your egg mixture might be a little lumpy, especially if you use Greek yogurt. Don’t worry too much about that–it will bake together just fine.

Now it’s time to assemble. Toss half the vegetables into your pie shell, then pour over half the egg/yogurt mixture and top with half the cheese. Repeat.

The liquid will fill in all the spaces between the vegetables.

Pour the custards slowly so that it has time to ooze down over the vegetables. Concentrate on the middle and don’t worry about getting it all the way out to the edges of the crust–it will fluff up during baking and fill up all the empty space.

Lots and lots of veggies.

I have a tendency to try to cram too much into the pie pan, which sometimes leads to a custard overflow. A cookie sheet underneath helps protect my oven.

A little sprinkle of smoked paprika adds color and flavor.

Once the quiche is ready to go in the oven, cover it loosely with foil coated with cooking spray. This will protect the top from over browning.

Set your oven timer for 30 minutes, and go do something fun. After 30 minutes are up, remove the foil and bake for another 30-40 minutes.

Remove the quiche from the oven and jiggle it (just a little bit) to make sure it is set. Put it on a cooling rack and allow it to cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing.

Even Satan likes a tasty egg dish.

666 Quiche:

• 1 pie crust
• 6 ounces plain yogurt
• 6 eggs
• 6 ounces grated or crumbled cheese
• Approximately 4 cups fresh, chopped vegetables
• 1 tsp dried herbs
• 1/2 tsp white pepper
• dash paprika

1. Preheat oven to 450.
2. Place crust in pie pan, prick bottom with fork, and bake for 6 minutes.
3. Reduce oven temperature to 375.
4. Beat together eggs, yogurt, herbs, and white pepper.
5. Layer half the vegetables in the pie pan. Slowly pour half the egg mixture over and sprinkle with half the cheese. Repeat.
6. Sprinkle with paprika.
7. Coat foil with cooking spray, cover quiche loosely and place it on a cookie sheet.
8. Bake for 30 minutes, remove foil, and bake 30-40 more minutes.
9. Let sit for at least 15 minutes before slicing.

Makes 6 servings.