Popeye knew what he was
doing, that's for sure. So many qualities and benefits are "hidden"
in those green marvelous leaves, so much taste - sometimes subtle and sometimes
decisive - and of course, so many culinary possibilities, from all kinds of
salads, pastries, and even green lively smoothies. Nevertheless, I want to
mention a few of the benefits of this amazing vegetable called Spinach : First
of all, the spinach is full with vitamins like vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin
B6, vitamin B2 and many more. The spinach is rich with iron and proteins. The
spinach is affordable and one can find it almost everywhere. And like I
mentioned before, one can make an endless amount of yummy dishes with it. The
most important thing is, to try and get it as fresh as you can (it's very easy,
by the way, to grow spinach on your own), and it's important to buy organic
spinach. Anyway, before you use it, I recommend to wash it well and to soak it
in water with some vinegar for about 10 minutes. Just to stay on the safe side.
This time, I chose to make
the crust of the quiche with polenta flour, which is actually corn flour, but
just not as fine grounded. The result is very interesting, not just texture
wise, but also the combination of the "soft" taste of the spinach
with the "rough" taste of the polenta, creates interest, and anyway,
it's always fun to experiment.
Another experiment I successfully
made in this recipe, is the parsley-dill-mint-garlic spread, that's lurking on
the bottom and surprising with each and every bite. The mint is also adding a
nice fresh taste that combines nicely in the quiche.
The Ingredients :
For the crust –
One cup of whole grain flour
One cup of polenta flour
Handful of sunflower seeds
A couple of chopped sundried tomatoes
Two spoons of vegan butter
Some cold water
Some sea salt and pepper
For the spread –
A couple cloves of garlic
Some fresh dill
Some fresh parsley
Two-three fresh mint leaves
Some olive oil
For the toping –
An onion
About 500 grams of fresh
spinach
250 ml of vegan cream (I use
rice cream)
One teaspoon of dinkel flour
One teaspoon of arrowroot
powder (also chickpea flour works well)
Some water
A teaspoon of cumin
A teaspoon of turmeric
Sea salt
Pepper
Hard soy cheese
Starting with the crust, sift
the flours into a big bowl and add the sunflower seeds, the sundried tomatoes,
some salt and pepper and mix. Add the butter and squeeze with your hands a bit
(fun, ah). The idea is to get to the point that the dough is a kind of
a combination between crumble dough and regular elastic dough, so just add some
water, squeeze and mix until you get a nice result. When the dough is ready,
wrap it with plastic wrap and put in the fridge for about an hour. Afterwards
place the dough in a nice baking form, and "sculpt" using your hands
the crust, not so thick but also not too thin and fragile. Pierce the dough
with a fork a bit, and bake for 10 minutes at a 180 degrees.
In the meantime make the
topping. It's important that the spinach is well cleaned and of course as fresh
as possible. Sauté the onion in a pan with olive oil, cut the spinach using
your hands and add it as well. After a couple of minutes add some salt and mix.
After the spinach softened up a bit, remove it from the heat and let it cool
down for a few minutes.
After the crust is ready and
baked, let it rest a bit and in the meantime make the spread. Just mix in a
mixer the garlic, parsley, dill and mint and add slowly some olive oil until
you get a nice creamy texture. Spread it on the base of the crust and add the cooked
spinach on top.
In a bowl mix the cream with
the arrowroot powder and the dinkel flour, add some water, season a bit and
pour it on top of the spinach. Try to mix it in gently so it's nice and even in
the quiche. Grate some cheese on top and put in a preheated oven (180 degrees)
for about 25 minutes. It's important to give the quiche, once it's ready, a few
minutes to settle down before you release it from the baking form. Enjoy!
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