Southwest Quiche

Serves 6 (or 4 really hungry folks, or 2 really, really, really hungry folks)

Southwest Bacon Quiche (Vegetarian option at the end)– 8 pieces of cooked bacon – crumbled (I slice the bacon into 1/4 inch slices prior to cooking and then cook-up the pieces…much easier if you are doing more than one quiche.  You can also do the bacon ahead of time and freeze it.

• Blend (I use an electric hand blender) 4 eggs and one cup Half & Half  Add ¾ cup grated Swiss cheese and ¾ cup grated Cheddar/Monterey Jack mix (we get this from Costco)
• Add three table spoons of flour
• Add ½ a teaspoon (or so…I never measure) of ground black pepper
• Add ¼ cup diced onion
• Add a 4oz (or more) can of diced green chile “drained” (I use Hatch New Mexico Chiles of course)
• Add the cooked bacon
• Pour/Spoon into Marie Calendars deep dish frozen pie crust. (I pop the frozen curst out of the shell and spray the pan with Pam so “no sticking”.

Bake for an hour at 350 degrees.  About 40 minutes into cooking I cover the crust with foil so it doesn’t burn.  I take a square piece of foil and fold it in half and then tear out a half-circle so when you open it up you have a nice cover for the crust……but the center of the quiche is still exposed. 

For Vegetarian Quiche – same egg and cheese mixture (with the flour and black pepper)…but in place of the bacon – I sauté diced onions, diced mushrooms, diced green chiles, fresh spinach and diced zucchini.  Then I drain the vegetables get rid of all the extra liquid. (soggy quiche no good…)