Quick "Quiche"

Last Friday I was stumped for a quick, Friday-in-Lent meal.  Actually, as a practice our family abstains from meat on all Fridays except solemnities.  But, this past Friday was hard because we have found the price of fish exorbitant, and hardly fitting into the deeper penitential practice of Lent.

So, here is what I made.  It has evolved over time for our family.  Even though we had to wait, it took less time than going out for something to eat.  We had all the ingredients on hand, a good reason to keep basics in the cupboard, refrigerator and freezer.

Please adjust for your own taste preference.  This is one of those "in the head" recipes.

Butter the bottom and sides of a 13" x 9" baking dish.  Set aside.

Rice Crust:

Boil 2 cups of water, add 1 cup of white rice.  As soon as the stirred in rice returns to a boil, pop on a tight lid.  Cook on low for 12 minutes.  Turn off the burner and let sit about another 10 or so minutes.

Veggies:

(I quit using a microwave a while ago - but you can certainly use a microwave here.)

Cook 1 bag of "California" vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower and carrot) until no longer frozen.   Drain.  This is usually done by the time the rice is finished.

Egg Mixture:

6 eggs beaten with about 1 1/2 to 2 cups of half and half.  Add some herbs to taste (we like basil, oregano and thyme).

Cheese:

Grate up to 2 cups of cheese.  We prefer Mozzarella.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

To the rice, mix in about 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.  Press this onto the bottom and sides of the prepared baking pan.  Sprinkle half the cheese over rice.  Cover with cooked veggies.  Pour the egg mixture over all of that.  Then sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

Place in oven.  As a cautionary measure, I like to put a cookie sheet on the rack immediately below to catch any bubble-overs (if any).  Cook for approximately 45 minutes.  Test with a knife.  When we've used regular or skim milk, it can take a bit longer to cook to done.  Let sit out of the oven just long enough to set the table.  This helps it firm up for serving.  Cut into serving size pieces, and enjoy.  For our current little family of 4 one casserole dish provides left-overs.  When it was all seven of us, I would double the recipe, cooking 2 dishes at the same time.  It still provided left-overs.  When the kids were little, one dish was ample.  But you know how kids and their appetites grow rapidly!

Sometimes we add fake crab, using fewer vegetables.  Try variations, using ingredients your family enjoys.  We switched from a pastry to rice because it was a lot simpler.  Plus helped avoid wheat sensitivity.