Caramelized Onion, Spinach, and Bacon Quiche

Mmm, quiche. It combines two wonderful things, a pie with an egg dish, to make a great meal that can be enjoyed pretty much any time of day. It took me years to figure out just how much I really love quiche, and I think it's because when I was growing up I didn't care too much for Swiss cheese. Probably all of the quiches I had when I was a kid contained Swiss, so I just dismissed quiche as being just okay.

Now, of course, I realize that 1) Swiss cheese is yummy! and 2) quiche can be made just about any way you can think of, with any ingredients your heart desires. It's versatile like that. And this quiche in particular is, I think, just a fantastic mash-up of flavors and textures.

When I found this recipe online, I was struck by the interesting realization that this Caramelized Onion, Spinach, and Bacon Quiche was made with a refrigerated pizza crust, and not the traditional pie crust. Since I had a pie crust in my fridge and I needed to use it, I decided to forego the pizza crust option, but I tucked it into my back pocket for another day. I just followed the recipe and used pie crust where it said to use dough, and we were good.

What I liked about this quiche was the layering of flavors. You've got a nice layer of spinach, made creamy by sour cream (who knew? Sour cream was such a brilliant addition here, and that's saying a lot because I don't like sour cream unless it's baked into a coffee cake or something.). Then you have a nice, sweet layer of caramelized onions. This is topped by a salty bacon and cheese layer, and then your egg mixture is poured all over the top. One note about the bacon: I used turkey bacon, but the original recipe called for Canadian bacon. I'm sure this would be good no matter what bacon you choose. Obviously, regular old bacon would be the tastiest, but I really liked the turkey variation in this.

Caramelized Onion, Spinach, and Bacon Quiche
adapted from Cooking Light
serves 6

Ingredients
1 refrigerated ready-made pie crust
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 tsp. olive oil
1/2 Tbsp. sugar
1 (10-ounce) package frozen, chopped spinach (thawed, drained, and squeezed dry)
1/4 cup low-fat sour cream
2 Tbsp. minced onion
1 cup evaporated skim milk
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
2 large egg whites
1 large egg
5-6 slices turkey bacon, cooked and chopped into pieces
1/4 cup (1 ounce) reduced-fat Mexican blend cheese, shredded

Directions
1. Heat a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil, then the onions. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the sugar, then continue to cook for another 15-20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Once the onions have browned and caramelized to your liking, remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a 9-inch pie plate, unroll your refrigerated pie crust and flute the edges, if desired. Set aside.

3. In a small bowl, combine the spinach, sour cream, and minced onion. In a medium bowl, combine the evaporated milk, salt, pepper, egg whites, and egg; stir well with a whisk. Stir 1/3 cup milk mixture into spinach mixture. Spoon the spinach mixture into the bottom of the prepared crust. Add the caramelized onions, and top with the bacon and cheese. Pour the remaining milk mixture over the top.

4. Place the pie plate on a baking sheet, and bake for about 15 minutes, or until the mixture looks set enough to remove the baking sheet (otherwise the mixture may leak out into your oven). Take the baking sheet out of the oven, but leave the pie plate in. Bake for another 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let quiche stand 10 minutes before serving.