#Greenslove: Mini Spinach Arugula Quiches

This month for Love bloghop the theme is #greenslove!

Please join in on the #greenslove fun by linking up any leafy green recipe from the month of March 2012. Don't forget to link back to this post, so that your readers know to come stop by the #greenslove event! The twitter hashtag is #greenslove :). 

I got these cute little mini quiche /tart pans, so I decided to make  mini quiches with spinach and arugula for #greenslove. Spinach and arugula have many nutrients, as green leafy vegetables. Green leafy vegetables are an excellent source of vitamins A and C, folic acid, calcium, manganese and magnesium. It's  also a very good source of potassium, iron, zinc, riboflavin and copper. And, besides green is my favorite color, and March is the month of St. Patrick's Day and everything green. A Green River anyone?

 Arugula and spinach, like other greens, are rich in many essential vitamins and minerals, as well as important phytochemicals.  Arugula contains phytochemicals such as carotenes and chlorophyll.  Those phytochemicals make it an excellent source of antioxidants.
  Sources: Murray , Michael N.D.. The Encyclopedia Of Healing Foods.
New York: Atria Books, 2005.

It is easy to include more greens to your diet by adding chopped  greens to salads, soups, omelets, stir frys, and quiches. Arugula, aka Rocket has a spicy, peppery flavor, which adds  a great taste to soups. salads, and egg dishes. spinach contains fiber and most of the vitamins and minerals found in meat.  These quiches make a good Lenten light lunch, supper, or appetizers.

So with all the health benefits of green, leafy vegetables, it is easy to see why I made a Spinach Arugula Quiche. Besides the steamed green leafy vegetables, the quiche has cheese, milk eggs, mushrooms and sauteed leeks. The quiches are full of flavor from all of the veggies, with the eggs,  and the cheese   I made the mini quiches, but you could make just one quiche in a 9" pie pan. We had a few of these for dinner, and I will use the rest  for appetizers.  Enjoy!

Mini Spinach and Arugula Quiches Adapted from the Essential Vegetarian cookbook by Whitecap Books

Ingredients

• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 small leek sliced, only the top white part
• 8 oz of fresh mushrooms, chopped
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 C Baby spinach, washed and stems removed
• 1 1/2 C  Baby Arugula, washed and stems removed
• 1 (8 ounce) package shredded Cheddar cheese I used white cheddar
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 single pie crust rolled out  to get 6 mini crusts 6” in diameter or 1 (9 inch) unbaked deep dish pie crust
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup half and half

Directions

Mini Crusts Preheat oven to 415 degrees

Roll out dough for single pie crust and cut 6 “circles of dough. Press into mini quiche pans. Place tins on a cookie sheet. Cover Pastry with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Spread a layer of beans or rice over the parchment paper or crust. Bake the pastry shell for 10min., and then remove from oven. Discard the paper or foil and beans or rice.  Return the tin to the oven for another 5 min, until lightly brown. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. In a medium skillet, add olive oil over medium heat. Sauté garlic and leek in olive oil until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in mushrooms, and cook until brown, about 5 min. Add spinach and arugula to mushroom mixture, stir until wilted. Divide spinach mushroom mixture between the 6 mini quiche pans.
3.  In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, half and half, 3/4 cup cheese, and milk. Season with salt and pepper. Pour into the pastry shells, allowing egg mixture to thoroughly combine with spinach mixture. You may sprinkle remaining cheese on top. if you want.  You will probably have leftovers, which can be baked in a small, casserole dish, sprayed with cooking spray.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until tops are golden and set.
5. Remove cookie sheet from oven, place mini quiche pans on rack to cool. Remove crusts from the tins. Serve warm.

Thanks  Junia. for hosting this wonderful event.
 Here is the list of the  amazing bloggers that are co-hosting with me.

ASTIG Vegan ~ Richgail ~  @astigvegan

Badger Girl Learns to Cook ~ Kimberly ~ @BdgrGrl

Baking and Cooking, A Tale of Two Loves ~ Becky Higgins

BigFatBaker ~ Erin ~ @BigFatBaker

Bon a croquer ~ Valerie ~ @Valouth

CafeTerraBlog ~ Terra ~ @CafeTerraBlog

Cake Duchess ~ Lora ~ @cakeduchess

Cheap Ethnic Eatz ~ Evelyne ~ @cethniceatz

Easily Good Eats ~ Three Cookies

Georgiecakes ~ Georgie ~ @georgiecakes

Kitchen Belleicious ~ Jessica ~ @kbelleicious

Mis Pensamientos ~ Junia ~ @juniakk

My Twisted Recipe ~ Dudot ~ @mytwistedrecipe  

No One Likes Crumbley Cookies ~ TR ~ @TRCrumbley

Oh Cake ~ Jessica ~ @jesshose

Queen's Notebook ~ Elizabeth ~ @Mango_Queen 

Rico sin Azucar ~ Helena ~ @ricosinazucar

Savoring Every Bite ~ Linda ~ @Spicegirlfla

Simply Reem ~ Reem ~ @simplyreem

Soni's Food for Thought ~ Soni ~ @sonisfood 

Sprint 2 the Table ~ Laura ~ @Sprint2theTable

Teaspoon of Spice ~ Deanna ~ @tspbasil 

That Skinny Chick Can Bake ~ Liz ~ @Thatskinnychick

The Art of Cooking Real Food ~ Laura ~@TAofCRF

The Spicy RD ~ EA ~ @thespicyrd 

The Wimpy Vegetarian ~ Susan ~ @wimpyvegetarian

Vegan Yack Attack! ~ Jackie ~ @veganyackattack

Vegetarian Mamma  ~ Cindy ~ @VegetarianMamma