Ham and quiche dish is a convenient midweek dinner

You can have this homemade quiche ready in just 25 minutes. I like to serve a warm, inviting quiche for a quick midweek supper, but don’t want to fuss with pastry dough. The secret to saving time and calories is to use bread crumbs for the crust instead. You can still slice and serve the quiche with this crust.

A tossed green salad is all you need to complete the meal.

Helpful Hints:

If whole wheat bread crumbs are not available, process 2 slices of whole wheat bread in the food processor to make crumbs.

Any type of mushrooms can be used. If using meaty portobello mushrooms, bake pie 5 minutes longer as they will add more liquid to the pie.

A casserole dish can be used instead of a pie plate.

Ham And Wild Mushroom Quiche

By Linda Gassenheimer

10-inch shallow pie or casserole dish

Olive oil spray

1/2 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs

1/2 pound reduced-sodium deli ham, torn into bite-size pieces

1 cup sliced shitake mushrooms

1 cup sliced red onion

1 cup sliced red bell pepper

2 large eggs

4 egg whites

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 cup skim milk

1/2 cup shredded, reduced-fat, sharp cheddar cheese

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray bottom and sides of pie plate with olive oil spray. Sprinkle breadcrumbs over bottom and sides of plate. Roll the plate around to make sure the sides are covered with crumbs. Gently shake the plate to evenly distribute excess crumbs across the bottom.

Place the ham, mushrooms onion and red bell pepper in the pie plate. In a small bowl lightly beat the 2 whole eggs and 4 egg whites with a fork. Add the nutmeg, milk, cheese and salt and pepper to taste. Pour into the prepared pie plate. Press the ingredients under the eggs with a fork. Place in oven for 25 minutes. The pie should be firm. Leave a little longer if needed. Remove, cut in halves and serve.

Yield 2 servings

Per serving: 487 calories (25 percent from fat), 13.6 g fat (4.7 g saturated,6 g monounsaturated), 217 mg cholesterol, 48.6 g protein, 34.6 g carbohydrates, 3.6 g fiber, 1618 mg sodium.

Tossed salad

4 cups washed, ready-to-eat salad

2 tablespoons reduced-fat vinaigrette dressing

Place salad in a bowl and toss with dressing.

Yield 2 servings.

Per serving: 27 calories (13 percent from fat), 0.4 g fat (0.1 g saturated, 0.3 g monounsaturated), 1 mg cholesterol, 1.2 g protein, 3.8 g carbohydrates, 2 g fiber, 12 mg sodium.