Quiches are savory pies made with a short crust pastry. It can be rather time consuming making the pastry, blind baking them and then adding in the filling and then baking them again. A crustless version is easier and even though we may miss the yummy buttery crust, having no crust helps us to dig into the filling direct. Agree? :)

​I have used the most basic of vegetarian filling - spinach and mushrooms, with skim milk and Parmesan and Mozarella cheese. It is so easy that the prepartion takes barely 30mins and another hour for cooking and baking.  Spinach and Mushroom Pie will make a great party dish and will be an awesome breakfast surprise for your weekend family time too!

Ingredients (for 6 slices)
​1 tbsp canola oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
200gm button mushrooms, washed and sliced thinly
​125 gm fresh baby spinach, washed
​4 large eggs (reduce to 3 if you are watching your cholesterol)
1 cup skim milk
​1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2 cup grated Mozarella Cheese
​Salt & Pepper

Method
​1) Preheat the oven to 180 deg C or 350 deg F. Coat a 9-inch pie dish with olive oil spray and leave it aside.

2) Gather all the ingrdients. TOP Picture - Sliced mushrooms, washed baby spinach, canola oil and minced garlic. BOTTOM Picture - salt, pepper, skim milk, Parmesan Cheese, Mozarella cheese and eggs.

3) Heat the canola oil in a pan and fry the minced garlic for 2 mins. Then add in the sliced mushrooms with a pinch of salt and pepper.

4) Once the mushrooms have cooked , add in the spinach and let it wilt.

5) After 3-5 mins, it will look like this. There will be a lot of water from the mushroom and spinach. If you cant wait for all this moisture to evaporate, just pour away the water like I did.  Keep aside.

6) Get a mixing bowl and whisk the eggs, skim milk and Parmesan cheese together. Season with salt and pepper. 

7) Pour the sauted spinach and mushroom into the oiled pie dish and spread it out evenly.

8) Pour the egg mixture into the pie pan.

9) Spread the mozarella cheese all over.

10) Bake in the preheated oven for 40 45 mins or till the crust is golden brown.

11) Enjoy your crustless Spinach and Mushroom Pie !

The inspiration for this recipe came from the many recipes for bars and squares that i recently chanced upon. My sister makes a great granola bar. I will post the recipe soon for that. I used prunes, chopped into bits, instead of the dates which are used in many versions. The squares tasted a little bland because they are really super skinny - no eggs, no butter and no oil whatsoever. And there is no added sugar too. Only the sugars from the banana and the prunes. Hence, if you prefer, add 1/2 cup of brown sugar when mixing.

​I just bought a bunch of these lovely dotted purple orchids and I simply had to show them off in my photos!! Aren't they captivating? :) 

Ingredients (for 16 squares)
​2 large very ripe bananas, mashed to liquid form with no lumps
​2 cups of rolled oats
1/2 cup chopped prunes
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 tsp salt to balance the flavor (optional)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

​Method
​1) Preheat the oven to 180 deg C or 350 F. Gather all the ingredients. From left, chopped walnuts, ground cinnamon, salt, oats, vanilla essence, mashed bananas and lastly chopped prunes. As you can see, I have used instant oats (I only had those at home) but rolled oats will give a crunchier bitier squares. Do add 1/2 cup brown sugar if you prefer sweeter squares.

2) Oil a square baking dish wth olive oil. Then get a mixing bowl and mix the bananas and vanilla essence first.

3) Then add in the oats. Mix well and then add in the other ingredients.

4) It would form a big lump by now. Flatten this lump into the oiled square baking dish. Use your hands if necessary. Flattening like this is important so that we can cut into neat squares after baking.

5) Bake in the preheated oven for 30-45 mins till the edges are brown and crisp. Cut them into squares while still warm.

6) Enjoy these Skinny Banana Oat Prune Squares without any guilt. Have it as a snack or with your coffee or tea.

Kimchi, also called Kimchee or Gimchi, is a traditional fermented Korean side dish made up of a variety of vegetables with a variety of seasonings.  It is Korea's national dish and has originated in Korea since the 12th century. The main ingredients of Kimchi are vegetables like cabbage, radish, and seasonings like gochugaru (red chilli pepper flakes) garlic, ginger, brine, saeuojeot (shrimp sauce), eonguljeot (oyster sauce) and aekjeot (fish sauce). There are 187 varieties of Kimchi!!  

​At this point, I have to mention my friend Aminah (we call her Ena)  who truly exemplifies what good friends do for their friends. She was on a trip to Korea with her family years ago and I had requested a vegetarian version. I had told her.. don't feel obliged. Just get it if its convenient.  Ena brought back a huge packet of Vegetarian Kimchi (1 kg) specially prepared for me without the shrimp, oyster and fish sauces! Apparently, she had waited for an hour in the morning to get the vegetarian version in a Kimchi shop enroute to the airport for her return flight. Imagine with all the luggage and with 3 young cranky kids in tow?? Thank you darling for your wonderful act of love and sacrifice. I enjoyed it tremendously :) I know this happened years ago, Ena but I still remember it and hold you close to my heart. How can we forget the acts of love of our friends and family?

​Recently, I came  across a vegetarian version of Kimchi at a local online store (Redmart). Making a simple fried rice with Kimchi was my next natural step. That's what I did last week when my girls were in school and my husband was out of town. Do note that there is no protein in this fried rice - so do make an egg or have grilled tofu with it.    

Ingredients (serves 1-2)
2 tbsp canola oil
3 cups of cooked white rice
1 tsp pounded/minced ginger
​1 tsp pounded/minced garlic
1 cup of mixed vegetables like carrot, peas, corn
​1 cup of Vegetarian Kimchi, drained and chopped roughly
1 tsp of  Gochujang  (Korean Red Pepper paste, if Kimchi is not spicy enough)
1 tsp sesame oil
​Salt and Pepper
​Red Bird's Eye chilli, sliced (for garnish and for side dish)
​Extra Kimchi (for side dish)

Method
​1) Get all the ingredients ready. From left : Cooked rice, mixed vegs, chopped Kimchi, sliced Red Bird's Eye chilli,  gochujang paste, ginger, garlic, canola oil, salt, pepper and sesame oil.
​

2) A close up of the Vegetarian Kimchi and the Korean red pepper paste Gochujang.

3) A close up of how Kimchi looks like. The usual Kimchi is usually has a sour fermented taste and smell. Surprisingly, this version was very pleasant and light in seasonings. No foul off putting smell at all.

4) Get a big wok or frying pan and heat the canola oil. Then fry the ginger and garlic for a few minutes.

5) Add the mixed vegetables and a pinch of salt for flavor. Let it cook for 3-5 mins.

6) Then, add in the chopped kimchi and saute the whole mixture further. If you want it extremely spicy, you can add in the gochujang paste here.

7) Now, add in the cooked rice, salt, pepper and sesame oil and give it a good mix. 

8) Serve with more Kimchi and some sliced red bird's eye chilli as additional condiments.