Brunch With Friends: Part 1

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this before, but it's always been my dream to have a Bed and Breakfast. My Bed and Breakfast would be on a beautiful farm. And every morning, I'd wake up and prepare a beautiful vegetarian and gluten free breakfast for my guests. Fresh coffee, pastries, fruit, pancakes, french toast... the menus could be endless but always delicious.

Until I make my dreams come true, I need plenty of practice and I love to have friends over for meals. Brunch, lunch or dinner parties. I love them all! So the other weekend, I invited Dori and Katie over to taste test some of my new brunch recipes. After double checking for food allergies or major dislikes, I decided on a menu:

• Quiche
• Scones served with Jam
• Breakfast Potatoes
• Yogurt & Fresh Fruit
• Freshly Squeezed Juice, Coffee & Steamed Almond Milk

I think the ladies were a bit surprised when they showed up to find this spread unfolding on my dining room table. As Dori put it, "Um, you could've just made scrambled eggs and we would've been happy." But what can I say, I aim to please! Luckily, all the food was a big hit and we even went back for seconds after taking a break to hang out on my couch and chat for a bit. I'd say that means brunch was a success, don't you think?

I'm dying to share all the recipes from this fantastic brunch with you but am going to spread them out over the course of this week so that reading this won't take you all day ;) So here goes... recipe #1 is for the quiche! Sooooo yuuuuum.

Gluten Free Quiche

First of all, the crust for this quiche was so easy & so majorly delicious!  It's based on the Savory Pie Crust from the Gluten Free Almond Flour Cookbook by Elana Amsterdam. And by the way, if you are gluten free, you must get this cookbook. It seriously rocks! The filling is one that I made up on my own based on ingredients I already had in my cupboard or refrigerator. I'm cool (aka resourceful) like that. Like I said, this quiche was so good that we all went back for seconds. If you aren't serving it for a brunch and would like automatic portion control, you may want to consider making little mini quiches instead of one large one.  Just an idea! Ok, here goes...

Gluten Free Quiche

Part 1: The Crust
adapted from the Savory Pie Crust in the Gluten Free Almond Flour Cookbook
1 1/2 cups Blanched Almond Flour
1/2 tsp Sea Salt
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 cup Grapeseed Oil
1 tbsp Water

Preheat your oven to 350 F.
Combine the almond flour and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl or cup,whisk together the oil and water. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until well combined. Press the dough into a 9 1/2" or deep-dish pie pan. Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden and remove from oven. Allow to cool before filling.

I made my crust the night before, wrapped it in plastic and then filled it in the morning. But if you're preparing everything at once, prep the filling while the crust is cooling.

Part 2: The Filling
2 whole Eggs + 3 egg Whites
2-3 Roasted Peppers (I used Trader Joe's roasted bell peppers from the jar), chopped
1/2 cup Baby Spinach
1/4-1/2 Goat Cheese rolled in Herbs (use as much or as little as you prefer)
9 Grape Tomatoes, halved

Preheat your oven to 350 F.
In a small bowl, beat the eggs and egg whites and set aside.
Spread the chopped roasted peppers on your prepared and cooled almond crust. Sprinkle the peppers with the herbed goat cheese and top with the baby spinach leaves. Pour the beaten eggs over the layers. Arrange the halved grape tomatoes around the edges of your quiche.
Place in your preheated oven and bake for 30-35 minutes, until browned around the edges. Serve warm & enjoy!

Stayed tuned for the scone, breakfast potato & juice recipes later this week!