Quiche is fairly easy to make and is a good way to cook with local ingredients. Here’s the basic recipe that I use:

• 4 eggs
• 1  1/2 cups milk
• 1/2 to 1 cup grated cheese
• salt and herbs to taste
• vegetables of your choice
• one pie crust

Cover the bottom of the pie crust with the cheese, then add the prepared vegetables. Beat together the eggs, milk, salt, and herbs and pour over the cheese and vegetables. Bake at 375 for 45-50 minutes until the filling is set.

Quiche is traditionally made with cream, but I always use nonfat milk and it still comes out delicious.

You can make your quiche with whatever vegetables you like. I usually start by sautéing a couple of garlic cloves and a chopped onion. Then I add one of the following combinations:

– steamed spinach and a pinch of nutmeg

– sautéed mushrooms and thyme

– steamed swiss chard leaves and thyme

– sliced raw tomatoes, oregano, and basil

Though as far as tomatoes go, I have so many other uses for them that it’s not often that they make it in to a quiche.

Here’s the local analysis of the spinach quiche I made the other day:

Local

eggs, milk, cheese, butter (in pie crust) – purchased at the co-op, from local farms

spinach – from the freezer, originally from the CSA

garlic – from my garden

Nonlocal

flour (in pie crust), salt, nutmeg