Category Archives: Breakfast

Smoked Salmon Quiche

I’m so excited to share this with you.

This quiche is really good, you guys.

From what I see, you all really like this heirloom tomato + pesto quiche. Yes, that quiche has wonderful flavor. So, I can’t wait for you to try this!

I tried smoked salmon for the first time when I was 17 or 18. My dad and brother are avid fishermen and brought home a smoked salmon from one of their trips. It was definitely love at first bite for me. I love the stuff!

I used to eat smoked salmon on crackers with a spread of mustard. If you haven’t tried that, I think you should. Such a simple, delicious snack. Just talking about it makes me want it now!

Over the years, I got more adventurous with my smoked salmon eating. I’ve ordered smoked salmon quiche in restaurants and I’ve also had it in an omelet. Smoked salmon on a bagel with cream cheese, lettuce and tomato? Yes, please.

Anyway, as you can see, I love it. And this quiche is my new favorite thing. I took one bite and then the whole piece was gone entirely too fast. I declared that I would be making this all the time now.

And I really could! It’s so easy to prepare. Smoked salmon is ready to go once you buy it, with no preparation. Isn’t that nice?

For this quiche, I used a store-bought whole wheat crust. I still don’t have that crust making down yet.

Some other tips: It’s important to let the cream cheese soften for this. Once softened, it is much easier to mix with the fresh dill and chives. I really do suggest using fresh herbs here. I’m sure you could use dried if you want, but the fresh herbs taste so good in this.

Also, use any tomatoes you would like. I used two small San Marzano tomatoes from Three Springs. From what I hear, they are awesome sauce tomatoes, but they also worked wonderfully in this quiche.

The last thing about this is the capers. Just a small amount adds something really special to this quiche. They are little bits of goodness and go so well with smoked salmon.

The flavor of this quiche is out of this world. It’s the right combination of cheese, fresh herbs, veggies, salmon and eggs. I do hope that you get to try this quiche and I hope that you enjoy every single bite!

Smoked Salmon Quiche

2013-08-27 06:09:25

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Ingredients

1 pie crust (choose your favorite!)
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon mix of fresh dill and chives, lightly chopped
Pinch of onion powder
2 small or 1 medium tomato, diced
4 ounces smoked salmon
1 1/2 tablespoons capers
4 eggs
1 cup milk (I used whole)
Salt and pepper

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375*.
In a small mixing bowl, mix together the softened cream cheese, chopped dill and chives and pinch of onion powder.
Spread the cream cheese mixture over the bottom and sides of the prepared pie crust. Once spread, there should be a thin layer the entire way around (see photo above).
On top of the cheese layer, add the diced tomatoes.
Add small pieces of the smoked salmon on top of the tomatoes.
Add the capers on top of the salmon.
In a bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk. Add salt and pepper.
Pour the egg mixture into the crust.
Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, then turn the heat to 400* and bake an additional 25 minutes, or until the quiche is set.
Enjoy!

Notes

Baking times may vary. Start watching your quiche after 15 minutes in the 400* oven.

The Dreaming Foodie https://www.thedreamingfoodie.com/

Fresh Cherry Vanilla Baked Oatmeal

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I baked you something warm and comforting.

This is a sweet and filling summertime breakfast.

Baked oatmeal is a go-to comforting recipe. It’s so easy to do and hard to mess up. That’s what I was looking for when I made this.

Last week, I attempted a dessert to share with you that went terribly wrong. And I attempted to change up one of my favorite recipes from my mom. It was not a change for the better.

Both were edible, but not share-able. We ate both but they left no great impression. That’s why I made this oatmeal.

I needed to make something I knew would be good. I needed something to comfort me. I needed to make something to reassure me, that I can make something good.

This oatmeal did the trick.

Cherry + vanilla is one of my all-time favorite combinations. I go crazy for cherry vanilla ice cream. And when I had a cherry vanilla cupcake a few months ago in DC, I couldn’t believe my taste buds. I decided to recreate that cupcake, and my maraschino and vanilla cupcakes are one of the most popular recipes on this site. You just can’t go wrong with cherry and vanilla.

And what better time of the year for cherries. They are gorgeous right now, like little pieces of art. And they taste amazing. I can’t even get over how much I love eating cherries right now.

This oatmeal is simple. Not many ingredients. But it is full of vanilla flavor. It is studded with real vanilla beans, which I think is one of the best flavors, ever. And, I added vanilla extract, to make that vanilla flavor even more amplified. The cherries are mixed right in, at the end, and they become soft and sweet, sort of like in a cherry dessert.

I think this would be an awesome weekend breakfast, with room for leftovers all week. I hope you enjoy this cherry vanilla baked oatmeal!

Ingredients
3 cups oats
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk (I used coconut)
1 egg
2 vanilla beans, seeds scraped from the stem
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
1-2 cups of cherries, depending on your preference, pitted

Preheat the oven to 350*.

In a mixing bowl, combine the oats, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. Whisk together well.

In another bowl, combine the milk, egg, vanilla beans seeds, vanilla extract and melted coconut oil. Mix together well.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones and mix until just combined. Gently stir in the cherries.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, or until firm and slightly golden.

Enjoy!

Notes:
-I enjoyed this oatmeal both warm and cold, with almond milk.
-For directions on how to scrape the seeds from a vanilla bean, see here.

Red Raspberry Jam

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I don’t need to tell you this again.

But, for those who don’t already know, I am obsessed with jam. You can read all about it here, if you really want to.

How do you like to enjoy your jam?

On toast? Muffins? Scones, english muffins, in oatmeal? I like jam all of those ways. Lately I’ve been eating rice cake + peanut butter + jam (Greg thinks I’m really strange). But I really just enjoy it many different ways. Jam is so good!

Speaking of scones. One time at this adorable place — Dandelion Market — in Charlotte, NC, where Greg and I were eating breakfast, we were served mini scones and mini muffins as a breakfast bread bowl! You know how restaurants bring you rolls out before dinner? Well this place brought mini scones and muffins with homemade jam and honey before breakfast! I was so in love with the idea I told Greg that I was going to do it at home, like on weekends and special occasions. Make mini scones and muffins and serve them cute with jam and honey and it will feel like we are on vacation all the time!

I think I did it once.

But don’t we all want to feel like that all the time. Special and vacation-y with fresh out of the oven scones and homemade jam? Of course we do!

Anyway, you know how I told you yesterday that I am in love with dessert and Greg just likes it? Well, same with jam. I think I saw him eat it once (the time in Charlotte). But! We went to brunch a couple weeks ago to this amazing place, Cake. I asked for jam with my toast and to my surprise, the waitress brought out homemade red raspberry jam. It was so good. Greg tried a bite. And, before I knew it, the rest of his toast was covered in jam! It was that good. I knew I had to try my own red raspberry jam.

It has been awhile since I made my own jam. I’ve been eating some different kinds from Trader Joe’s. They are all good, but I just love having something homemade.

This jam is nothing but fruit and sugar. If you are looking for an easy, no fuss, quick yet delicious jam recipe, this is it.

My raspberry jam has a 6:1 fruit to sugar ratio. I love the taste of fruit, naturally, and don’t think that it needs a ton of sugar for sweetening. Red raspberries are a bit tart naturally and the small amount of sugar in this hides that bite just enough.

For this batch, I used 3 cups of fruit and 1/2 cup of sugar. That can be easily changed, depending on how much fruit you start with. Just keep the 6:1 ratio in mind. Also, if you prefer a sweeter jam, taste as you go while making this and adjust the sugar level accordingly.

I left all of the seeds in this jam. I wanted this to be as easy and simple as possible, so I did not bother with the straining of the seeds. I actually enjoy the seeds in jam, anyway. Be aware, though, because I do know that some people prefer seedless jam!

I want to talk about the thickness of this jam. I will warn you, this jam is not thick. I did not put anything in it, like pectin, which would have significantly thickened it.

I will say, I gave it the blizzard test. When I used to get blizzards from Dairy Queen when I was younger, they would turn them upside down before they gave it to me, so that I could see how thick it was. Do they still do that? Anyway, this jam passed the blizzard test. I put some jam on a muffin and turned it upside down. They jam stayed in place! If you are okay with jam that isn’t completely “jellied”, like me, then no worries! This will be good for you.

But, if you are not okay with that, how about some other ideas. How about served right off the stove over some creamy vanilla ice cream or a topping for waffles and pancakes (need to try soon!).

Thick or not, this jam has amazing taste. Fresh summer red raspberries with a touch of sweet sugar. My new favorite breakfast topping!

Ingredients
3 cups fresh red raspberries
1/2 cup of sugar

Add the rinsed raspberries to a pot over medium heat. Let the raspberries get warm, until they start to bubble and slightly simmer. Using a potato masher, smash the berries well, until they are sauce-like. Add the sugar and let the berries simmer for about 10 minutes.

Let the mixture cool, and then add the jam to a jar or container. Let cool longer before serving.

Enjoy!

Heirloom Tomato + Pesto Quiche

14 Replies

More quiche for you!

This one was good. I think the best one ever. Pesto + cheese + heirloom tomatoes = an unbelievable combination. One that I would put in pasta. Why not in a quiche?

I’ve said it before but I just love making quiche and having it around because it is good for any meal.

Serve it with some form of potato for a nice weekend breakfast, on it’s own for lunch or with a big green salad for dinner.

It just works!

I usually make two quiches at a time and eat them for various meals all throughout the week.

And, I use frozen store-bought crust. I wish I was making my own, but I’m just not there yet. Does anyone have a super simple homemade crust recipe? Please share — I’d love to give it a try.

Now, for this quiche, you definitely have to like pesto to enjoy it. I made this once and put 1/2 cup of pesto in it. The pesto flavor was prominent. I did enjoy it, but the next time I made it I put 1/3 cup of pesto in it, just to see how that would turn out. It was good too and much less strong on the pesto taste. So, in the ingredients list I said to add 1/3 – 1/2 cup of pesto, depending on your taste for it! It’s good either way, just choose how strong you want it to be!

Also, as far as assembling the quiche. The first time I made it, the order I went in was first crust (obviously), pesto, tomatoes, cheese, egg. The second time I went crust, pesto, cheese, egg and then tomatoes. I reversed the order of egg and tomato. I definitely enjoyed the second try better as far as order, with the egg going before the tomatoes — the tomatoes on top. That is what I put in the directions.

I hope that you get to make and enjoy this simple, delicious quiche!

Ingredients:
*This is what I used for one quiche. Can easily be doubled, tripled, etc.
1 9-inch pie crust (I used a frozen store-bought one)
4 eggs
1/2 cup milk (I used coconut)
1/3 – 1/2 cup pesto
3/4 cup mini heirloom tomatoes, sliced
1/3 cup finely grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350*.

Start by slicing the tomatoes. I took each mini heirloom tomato and sliced it lengthwise into thirds.

Crack the eggs into a large bowl. Whisk the eggs well. Add the coconut milk (or regular milk) and whisk well again until the milk is incorporated.

Spoon the pesto into the bottom of the pie crust. Using the back of a spoon, gently smooth it over the bottom of the crust. Sprinkle the cheese over the pesto. Pour the eggs over the cheese. At this point, I took the whisk I used to mix the eggs and very gently stirred the egg mixture in the crust. I did not want to incorporate all of the ingredients, just wanted to make sure they cooked together a bit. Last, place the tomatoes slices over the eggs. The tomatoes should cover the entire top of the quiche.

Place the quiche in the preheated oven and bake at 350* for 10 minutes. Increase the heat to 400* and bake for another 30-40 minutes, or until an inserted knife comes out clean.

*This will be best if you let if cool for about 20 minutes before eating. It will be watery/runny straight from the oven. The longer you let it cool, the better it will be. It makes excellent leftovers because once you warm it up in the microwave, it doesn’t get runny again.

Enjoy!

Notes:
-I made this once and used 1/2 cup of pesto and another time I used 1/3 cup of pesto. It was good both times. The pesto amount is definitely flexible — the point of it is to add flavor — so add as much or as little depending on your love (or not) of it.

-If you can’t find mini heirloom tomatoes (I feel like I was lucky!) just used grape or cherry tomatoes. Or any tomatoes you have!

-You can use any type of milk that you like! It doesn’t have to be coconut.

-It seems to me that the time in the oven for quiche is very variable. The first time I made this quiche it took 35 minutes total. The second time it took 50 minutes total. I bake it on on a lower temperature at first, just to get it started without being too hot right away. Once you increase the heat to 400*, I would start checking it after 30 minutes.

-Again, this is best if you let if cool before eating. It is watery/runny right out of the oven. It reheats in the microwave very well.

Coffee Banana Date Smoothie

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My new favorite thing!

(^^ No, that date is not my new favorite thing.) It’s the smoothie that the date goes in.

I had so many titles to choose from for this post.

First, I didn’t know if I should call it a shake or a smoothie. It is creamy in texture, almost like a shake. But, I thought, it’s too healthy to be called a shake. Let’s go with smoothie.

I wanted to call it amazingly-simple-four-ingredient smoothie. Because really? Four ingredients made this cup of deliciousness? They did! Coffee, bananas, dates and frozen almond milk.

And really, should I have just added almond milk to the title? That’s the only ingredient I used and didn’t add to the title. It just didn’t sound right.

Also, I wanted to add the word vegan. Because I made a vegan smoothie sort of milkshake-y thing. If I were vegan (or on days that I feel like being one) this would be the perfect drink for a creamy milkshake/sweet tooth craving.

Now, I don’t want to scare you away, but do you know how much I love coffee ice cream? Ice cream that tastes like coffee? That most people won’t go near? Yes, I love it. If you love it too, you will love this smoothie. There is a subtle flavor in this smoothie that reminds me of the ice cream. But! If you don’t love it, I think you will love this too. You probably wouldn’t even think of it if I hadn’t mentioned it. 🙂 Every ingredient pulls equal weight in this. All the flavors are noticeable, and just enough of each.

This would be so good in the morning as a way to have morning coffee and breakfast all in one delicious and healthy smoothie. Or great as an afternoon snack (using decaf coffee, because if you know me, you know that I can’t drink caffeine past 10 or 11 a.m.).

So, what do you think? Is this something you would try? Don’t be scared of the color. It’s delicious, sweet, healthy, refreshing, an energy-booster and vegan! I hope that you try and enjoy!

Ingredients
2 bananas, frozen
4 frozen almond milk cubes (almond milk poured into an ice cube tray and frozen)
1/2 cup strong brewed coffee, cooled
2 medjool dates, pitted

I started by add the bananas and frozen almond milk cubes to the blender. I blended them up, adding a little bit of the coffee, until it was very smooth. I then added the rest of the coffee and dates, and blended longer, until smooth again.

Enjoy!

Notes:
-Your blender may be strong enough to add all of the ingredients at once. I added them separately because mine is not high-powered enough to handle all at once.
-I froze my bananas a day in advance. I took 2 very ripe bananas, broke them into thirds and put them in a zip bag into the freezer.
-I also froze my almond milk a day in advance. Just pour almond milk into an ice cube tray and into the freezer.

The Dreaming Foodie

Sharing dreams. On food and life.

Category Archives: Breakfast

Smoked Salmon Quiche

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