Spinach Quiche

ve made quiche before but never added Spinach to it. It's always hard to find fresh Spinach at PP. The only spinach they sell are the frozen ones. I never know what to do with the frozen spinach cuz everytime i defrost it, it dissolves into nothing. Well, I went to Carrefour and got a big bag last time and decided to make Spinach Quiche.

Spinach Quiche
adapted from www.allrecipes.com
makes 1 - 9 inch quiche

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon 0live oil
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 250g fresh spinach, cooked and squeezed dry [picture 1, 2]
• 130g mushrooms, chopped
• 170g feta cheese, crumbled
• 200g cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 (9 inch) unbaked deep dish pie crust
  (See Recipe Here but leave out the sugar)
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 3/4 C milk1/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper (or to taste)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Bake pie crust for 5-7 minutes so you won't get soggy quiche.
3. In a medium skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat.
4. Saute garlic and onion in olive oil until lightly browned [picture 3]. Remove from heat.
5. Stir in squeezed spinach, mushrooms, feta cheese and 1/2 cup cheddar cheese into the onions and garlic [picture 4]. Set aside.
6. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and milk [picture 5]. Pour egg mixture into Spinach mixture and mix thoroughly. Season with salt and pepper[picture 6].
7. Pour mixture into the pie shell [picture 7, 8].
8. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes.
9. Sprinkle top with remaining Cheddar cheese, and bake an additional 35 to 40 minutes, until set in center [picture 9].
10. Allow to stand 10 minutes before serving.

Spinach Quiche

Almost everyone has watched "Popeye" and learned a little something about Spinach as a kid. We all know that Spinach contains a lot of Iron + Calcium and how Spinach is one of the best vegetables there are. But i was so bored i Wiki-ed Spinach and found this. To sum it up:

1. Iron DOES contain more Iron than other vegetables but not by a lot.
2. Spinach contains high amounts of Oxalate.
   - Oxalate binds to the Iron in Spinach forming--> Ferrous Oxalate (insoluble salt).
   - Ferrous Oxalate is then removed from the body.
   - So basically only about 5% of the Iron in Spinach is actually absorbed.
   - The same thing happens with Calcium in spinach.
   - Compared to Broccoli, Spinach only absorbs 5% of Calcium while Broccoli absorbs 50% of it.
3. However, Spinach is still rich in other nutrients like Vitamin A, C, E, K, Magnesium, Folate (Vit B9).... so it's still important to eat your SPINACH!
   

Confession: I know even though my Spinach Quiche contains Spinach, it doesn't make it a healthy food. 所以還是少吃一點...無聊做做看就好了!

On another note, i almost chopped off my freakin finger making this freakin Quiche. I was trying to cut the onion, but it was too round and slippery, my 菜刀 completely landed on my left index finger. It was a DEEP CUT and for the first time in my life, 我看到自己的肉. KAOOOO!!! Thank goodness i still remember some First Aid skills from my Summer Red Cross training or else my roommate would've found me 2 hours later lying on the ground unconcious from blood loss........... Okay, im exaggerating.. But ARGHHHH. I was still bleeding the next day... hopefully it'll heal up soon.