Tweaksville

My cousin asked me again if I was on a diet. I told her that I was on the best life diet à la Bob Greene's suggestion. Otherwise, I was not on a cabbage diet or Atkin's diet.

I told her that I had swapped 2% milk for 1% milk. I stopped eating fried food. I eat baked Lays instead of regular Lays -- if I get a hankering for some chips.

Yesterday's choice of dinner was a prime example of tweaking.

Before, I would fix this Leek and Cheese Quiche with heavy cream and butter.

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons butter
2 cups sliced leeks
1 (9 inch) frozen pie crust, thawed
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1/4 cup grated Romano cheese
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
4 eggs
1 3/4 cups heavy cream
1 tomato, thinly sliced
salt and pepper to taste


DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat, and saute the leeks until tender. Spread evenly over the bottom of the pie crust.
In a bowl, toss together the Swiss cheese, Romano cheese, and flour. Spread over the leeks.
In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs and heavy cream. Pour over the cheese layer in the pie crust. Top with the tomato slices, and season with salt and pepper.
Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce heat to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C), and continue baking 30 minutes, until the crust is lightly browned and a knife inserted in the center of the quiche comes out clean.

Yesterday, I fixed this Healthy Veggie Quiche.

Yield
Makes 6 servings (serving size: 1/6 of quiche)

Ingredients
1 store-bought frozen pastry shell, such as Wholly Wholesome brand
2 1/2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
2 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
1 (5-ounce) package prewashed fresh baby spinach
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 (4-ounce) package assorted mushrooms
2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan (about 3 ounces), divided
1 cup plain soy milk
1 large egg
3 large egg whites
Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 375°. Bake pastry shell for 10–12 minutes or until browned. Remove shell from oven, and set aside. Leave oven on.

2. Heat 1 1/4 teaspoons oil over medium heat in a large nonstick skillet; add shallots. Add spinach, and cook 2–3 minutes or until wilted. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt and a dash of pepper. Transfer to a plate; set aside

3. Using the same pan, heat remaining oil, and cook mushrooms about 6 minutes or until browned on both sides. Remove from heat. Season with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

4. Sprinkle 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese over bottom of pastry crust. Top with spinach and mushrooms.

5. In a separate bowl, whisk together soy milk with egg and egg whites. Pour into shell. Top with remaining 1/3 cup Parmesan, and bake for 45–50 minutes or until top is firm and golden brown. Cut into wedges and serve.

Nutritional Information
Calories:173
Fat:12g (sat 5g,mono 1g,poly 0.0g)
Cholesterol:5mg
Protein:4g
Carbohydrate:13g
Fiber:2g
Iron:1mg
Sodium:215mg
Calcium:70mg