A Marisa quiche

My dear friend Chrissy recently got me hooked on Scrubs. I'm embarrassed to admit I've only watched an episode or two on a plane back to the States or in a hotel room, but once I started watching from the very beginning I couldn't get enough. It's hilarious! There is an episode in one of the later seasons where Dr. Turk begs his wife Carla to make "brinner" (breakfast for dinner). For the record, I am NOT a brinner person in the least. To me, there is something very wrong about eating blueberry pancakes with maple syrup at the end of the day. Don't ask me why. However, the great thing about quiche is that you can adjust the ingredients according to your tastes, and if you're like me and don't want anything sweet in the evening, your quiche will make a great dinner entree. I got the original recipe from Bailey on All Recipes, but I doctored it up quite a bit.

First, I eliminated the butter (unnecessary, and 1/2 cup is WAY too much. I used olive oil to saute the garlic and onions) and the cheddar cheese (which just seemed like major overkill with the feta). I also purchased plain feta cheese instead of the herb and garlic feta, and I added about 1/2 cup of sliced fresh mushrooms and a couple of pieces of deli ham I had in the refrigerator. All this being said, the particular recipe is very forgiving and you can pretty much add or omit whatever you want.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 1 (4.5 ounce) can mushrooms, drained
• 1 (6 ounce) package herb and garlic feta, crumbled
• 1 (8 ounce) package shredded Cheddar cheese
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 (9 inch) unbaked deep dish pie crust
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup milk
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. In a medium skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Saute garlic and onion in butter until lightly browned, about 7 minutes. Stir in spinach, mushrooms, feta and 1/2 cup Cheddar cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon mixture into pie crust.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and milk. Season with salt and pepper. Pour into the pastry shell, allowing egg mixture to thoroughly combine with spinach mixture.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Sprinkle top with remaining Cheddar cheese, and bake an additional 35 to 40 minutes, until set in center. Allow to stand 10 minutes before serving.