Gluten-free Spinach and Portobello Quiche

Editor's Note: 

A few days ago, my friend Amanda called me out for not blogging the weekend after my previous entry. Today, I logged in to discover this almost-fully composed draft, which I never published because I had to transfer the photos from my digital camera to my computer. Also, I forgot to type out the steps. Several months later, I now realize that no one gives two poops about whether or not there are photos, because everyone has stopped reading this blog. No one cares whether I've detailed the steps either, for the same reason. So, I've made an executive decision. I'm going to publish this, sans photographie, and move on to my next post, which will be about Thanksgiving 2014, otherwise known as "The Great Cake Saga". Stay tuned...

Before you say anything, let me state for the record that I still consume and adore glutenous foods. (I also enjoy gluttonous foods, in case you were wondering.)

However, there's a gluten-free bakery near my office, and I've discovered that several of their items are, in fact, delicious. They're not "the same" as baked goods containing gluten, but since I don't keep a gluten-free diet, I think of them as delectable in their own right. 

In particular, I've gotten into the habit of splitting small spinach quiches from Zest with one of my co-workers. It's a somewhat indulgent breakfast for a workday, but sometimes it's just nice to treat yourself to something special. I would argue that it feels even better when there's no other reason besides, "I just feel like having quiche today."

The trouble with this habit is that once my half of the quiche is gone, I immediately want more. I'm truly enamored with the crust of these quiches, which is so light and crumbly, it literally melts in your mouth.

It actually makes sense that pie crust translate well into a gluten-free version, because you generally want pie crusts to be flakey and light, rather than chewy. Traditional pie recipes often call for cake or pastry flours, which usually have between 2% to 5% less gluten than regular all-purpose.

So with this in mind, I resolved to make a gluten-free quiche this weekend.

I researched several recipes online, but ultimately ended up winging it for the most part. There is room for improvement, as always, but overall, I'm pretty pleased with how this first attempt at gluten-free quiche turned out.

Here's the recipe:

Pie Crust

1 1/4 cups gluten-free flower (I used Bob's Red Mill)

1/2 teaspoon salt (I didn't actually measure this, so I'm estimating)

2 teaspoons sugar (I didn't actually measure this either... sorry.)

1/2 cup cold butter

1 egg

2-4 tablespoon ice water

Filling

6 cups of raw spinach, steamed and cut in pieces

1/2 cup red onion, chopped

1/2 portobello mushroom, chopped

2 large eggs

1/2 cup egg whites

1/2 cup low-fat milk (I used lactose free)

generous pinch of sage

generous pinch of thyme (how you like 'dem units of measurement?)

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper