Spinach, Mushroom, Turkey Bacon, Feta Quiche

The more I cook, the more I think that my blog name is completely appropriate for what I'm doing.  Jacob and I tried to make cookies this past weekend that were sabotaged by the altitude in Wyoming (and the fact that we didn't know how to compensate for the altitude).

It turns out the quiche was another one of those recipes where I went to pull it out of the oven at the original time that the Prevention RD blog said, and my quiche was a giant egg soup.  So then I just played the guessing game as to when everything would be done.  Living at 6,200 feet is very interesting sometimes.

I love quiches though.  My mom made them a lot growing up, and they just seem like such a fancy meal even though you could basically throw anything in there and it would taste fantastic.  I decided to try some new ingredients, and thought maybe I'd see how it would turn out using egg whites instead of a half a dozen whole eggs like my other recipe demands.

Spinach, Mushroom, Turkey Bacon, Feta Quiche
slightly adapted from Prevention RD, originally from Erin’s Food Files

Ingredients

1 store-bought frozen pastry shell
5 slices turkey bacon
2 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 chopped onion
2 cups chopped spinach
1 cup chopped baby bella mushrooms

1/4 cup chicken broth
2 eggs
3 egg whites
2/3 cup fat free half & half
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

1 tablespoon Italian Seasonings
salt & pepper to taste

Directions
1) Preheat oven to 375° F. Bake pastry shell for 8-10 minutes or until browned. Remove shell from oven, and set aside. Leave oven on.
2) Chop turkey bacon and saute in a skillet over medium high heat until slightly crispy. Remove from pan and set aside.
3) Heat oil over medium to medium high heat. Add onion, saute 2-3 minutes until tender. Add mushrooms, spinach, and chicken broth. Saute 4-5 minutes until spinach is soft and the chicken broth has absorbed into everything.  Add turkey bacon back to the pan and stir to combine well.
4) In a bowl beat eggs, egg whites, and half & half. Season with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. Add in veggie/bacon mixture and stir to combine. Add feta, stir to combine, and pour into pie shell.
5) Bake 40-50 minutes or until completely set, and slightly golden & crispy on top. Serves 4.

I thought the feta was an amazing strong flavor in this quiche.  I like spinach, but the strands of spinach bothered me a little texture wise.  The mushrooms were soft and gave the quiche that hearty filling.  We didn't let our bacon cook as long as it should have, so it was just kind of a limp addition to the pie.  We decided it would be even more amazing if the bacon was crispier.  Everything went together well though and with the addition of that buttery golden crust, it was so hard to stop eating it. 

Oh, and we couldn't even tell that the quiche was made with more egg whites than whole eggs.  Substituting the egg whites didn't affect the flavor at all.