Finally a fresh new blog post! And boy-oh-boy is your patience about to be rewarded!
Spring means 2 things to me: 1) allergies, and 2) brunch, yo. There’s just something about spring that makes it the perfect season to get your brunch on and there ain’t no better dish for brunch than the quiche. Now traditionally, a quiche is made with a whole slew of eggs but ew, eggs are so gross. So how can we make one vegan (aka not gross)? With tofu! If you’ve visited my blog before you know that my go-to egg substitute for baking is Ener-G but, when it comes to cooking, my go-to egg substitute is tofu and it works perfectly in this recipe. Seriously, even tofu-haters can’t hate on this recipe once they’ve tasted it!
Okay so this is admittedly not the quickest recipe I’ve ever come up with. In fact, if you make it as I’ve suggested with the caramelized onions, it’ll take you a little over 2 hours to make because those darlings take time to caramelize. But don’t run away just yet! Of course this dish is totally worth taking the 2 hours to make it with the flavor combination that I’m showing you here today (cause it’s hella delicious) but, if you ain’t about that kind of time commitment, there are ways that you can reduce the E.T.D. (Estimated Time to Deliciousness). You could totally just switch up the add-ins (bye bye caramelized onions) and knock about an hour off the time. Another option for you, if you don’t want to omit the onions, is to make them the day before saving you time on the day of. No matter if you follow my recipe exactly or play around with different flavor combos, I’m sure that once you’ve tried these babies you’ll wonder where they’ve been your whole life. Oh, and one last thing, keep ’em babies, y’all. This mixture simply won’t cook up properly if you try to use it to make a normal size “quiche.”
It all gets started with the onions! In a skillet over low-med. heat, a little vegan “butter” and some salt get combined with 1 and a half large white onions which have been cut into thin strips. These strips will get cooked for 50 minutes at which point they’ll be caramelized to perfection -yum! When the onions are done set them aside for a moment so that you can make the tofu base for the “quiches.”
The tofu base comes together in a blender -I love my Ninja for this and its 32oz cup is the perfect size for the job but of course you can use any blender you have/want! Into the blender cup goes the tofu, which has been drained and pressed with some paper towels to remove most of the water from it, as well as some vegetable stock or broth, coconut cream, and then a whole bunch of spices. Pop the lid on and blend til smooth!
Grease up the cups of a standard size metal muffin pan and then plop a spoonful of the tofu mixture into the bottom of each muffin cup. Next, into each cup goes some frozen southern style hash browns (aka frozen diced potatoes). Over top of the potatoes goes some vegan “cheese,” and then the onions you caramelized earlier. The final layer is another good spoonful of the tofu mixture to cover the goodness inside. The crustless mini “quiches” will bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour.
When the “quiches” are done, let them rest in the pan for about 10 minutes. Then, to get them out, I find that the easiest method is to place a sheet pan over top of the muffin pan, hold the two pans tightly together with oven mitts (cause the muffin pan will still be hot), and then flip the pans over together so that the “quiches” release from the muffin pan and onto the sheet pan. Serve ’em up with a sprinkling of fresh chives (optional) and enjoy!
Vegan Caramelized Onion, Potato, & 'Parmesan' Crustless Mini 'Quiches'
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 large white onions, cut into thin strips
- 2 tablespoons vegan “butter”
- 1/2 teaspoon salt + 1/4 teaspoon salt (for the tofu mixture)
- 1 (14-ounce) package firm tofu, drained and pressed to remove excess water
- 1 cup vegetable stock or broth
- 2/3 cup coconut cream
- 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin
- 1 cup frozen southern style hash browns (aka frozen diced potatoes)
- Vegan “Parmesan,” to taste
- Fresh chives (optional)
Directions
- Cut onions into thin strips if you haven’t done so already. In a skillet over low-med. heat, melt the vegan “butter.” When melted, add in the onions and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cover and cook onions for 50 minutes, stirring about every 15 minutes, until caramelized. When done, set onions aside for a moment to make the tofu mixture.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a standard size metal muffin pan by generously greasing the muffin cups. In a blender cup, combine the tofu, which should have been drained and pressed with some paper towels to remove most of the water from it, with the vegetable stock or broth, coconut cream, dried rosemary, dried thyme, garlic powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt, pepper, turmeric, paprika, and cumin. Put the lid of the blender cup on and then blend until smooth.
- Into each greased muffin cup, plop a spoonful of the tofu mixture. Next, toss into each cup some frozen southern style hash browns (aka frozen diced potatoes). Over top of the potatoes goes the “Parmesan,” and then the onions you caramelized earlier. The final layer is another good spoonful of the tofu mixture to cover the goodness inside. Bake the mini “quiches” for 1 hour.
- When done, let the mini “quiches” rest in their pan for about 10 minutes. Then, to get them out, place a sheet pan over top of the muffin pan, hold the two pans tightly together with oven mitts (cause the muffin pan will still be hot), and then flip the pans over together so that the mini “quiches” release from their pan and onto the sheet pan. Serve each with a sprinkling of fresh chives (optional). Mini “quiches” will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a 5 days.
Compassion is the Secret Ingredient 
Just loved it
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