Sunday's Plate

My Internet service is up a minute and then down a minute. It's enough to make you scream. So my Sundays sans service has made this column a bit unreliable.

In my talks with several friends lately, I've come to the conclusion that most people don't even think about the nutrition, the quality, or the long term effects of what they eat. High fat, high calorie, glutenous, over cooked food is the preferred food.

In this column, the idea is to learn to make simple, palatable, quality foods that will impact the body for the good. Food should not make us unhealthy, for goodness sake. It should make us healthy.

Today we will make a Quiche. Whoa! Quiche? It's simple, so don't freak out.

First step is to make the crust. You will need a rolling pin or can and a place to roll. Best crusts are made with lard, but lard is about the worst thing you can eat, so we will use either Crisco or butter. I usually use butter because it's a dairy food and used in moderation, it's saturated fat, but unlike margarine, it's free of chemicals. Margarine is one molecule away from plastic. It should not only never be eaten, it should never be purchased. Crisco makes better crust than butter, but crisco is man made and is suspect.

The best crust is half white flour and half whole wheat pastry flour, but you can make it with 100% whole wheat flour for a healthier meal. You will need 2 cups of flour and a stick of butter.

In a food processor, combine flour and butter and half a teaspoon of salt. Boil a little water and slowly pour about 1/4 cup boiling water into the flour-butter-salt mix while processor is on and when it balls up into one lump, it's ready to be rolled. If the dough fails to ball up it is either too dry or you added too much water. Either add more water - carefully - or add more flour.

A crust which is flaky will have a lot of butter in it. Too much water, and the crust will be tough.

Once the dough is balled, let it sit on the counter for about ten minutes to rest. Now using a well floured surface, roll out the dough with a rolling pin into a plate sized piece. Use plenty of flour to make sure your dough does not stick to the counter or board.

Fold the circle in half and half again and lift into your pie plate. Trim the edges and make sure the dough fits the whole pie pan.

Now for the fun part.

A quiche is really an egg pie made with left overs. Go to the refrigerator and find all the left over fresh vegetables you have and cut them into pieces about the size of a teaspoon and tumble those into the bottom of your unbaked crust. Almost any vegetable can be put into a quiche: yellow squash, zucchini, broccoli, onion, mushrooms, spinach, potatoes, green and red peppers, tomatoes - whatever.

If you have left over bacon, roast, chicken, meat balls, or anything without a bone, you can cube it into pieces and tumble into the bottom of your crust. If you don't have any left overs, you can go meatless. You can also zap a chicken breast or a little bacon in the microwave and cube that.

Next part is eggs. Just like you are making scrambled eggs, mix five eggs and a cup of milk together until they are light and frothy. Pour the eggs over the meat and vegetables.

Over the top of your quiche, put a couple of cups of grated cheddar cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour. Your quiche will have a nice brown top, and the crust edge will be brown as well.

There is plenty of protein with this meal. It does not need any other food to go with it. It is complete. If the quiche is made with fresh vegetables, it has no preservatives, no chemicals, and aside from some cholesterol, it's not only filling and delicious, it's good for you.