Quinoa crust cuts out gluten in spinach, feta-filled quiche

Homemade quiche can be a problem for cooks who don’t like to play with pastry dough, as well as diners who want to steer clear of gluten. Enter quinoa, a proteinpacked, grainlike seed that has been nourishing people for more than 3,000 years.

A nutritious alternative to wheat, cooked quinoa (pronounced “keen-wah”) is a perfect building material for a tasty — and super easy — crust when mixed with some beaten egg and a pinch of salt and pepper.

Any number of fillings lend themselves to the nutty taste of a quinoa crust, but spinach coupled with salty feta pairs especially well.

Spinach and Feta Quiche With Quinoa Crust

Crust:

2 cups cooked quinoa, chilled 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Dash of salt

1 egg, beaten

Filling:

1 teaspoon canola oil

1/2 onion, thinly sliced 5 ounces baby spinach 1/2 cup low-fat milk 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

4 eggs PLUS 2 egg whites 1 1/2 ounces feta cheese Heat oven to 375 degrees. Make crust: Combine quinoa, pepper, salt and beaten egg in a bowl, stirring well. Press mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate coated with cooking spray. Bake in hot oven for 20 minutes; cool.

Make filling: Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add oil to pan and swirl to coat. Add onion and saute for 3 minutes. Add spinach and saute for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.

Combine milk, salt, black and red peppers, eggs and egg whites. Stir with a whisk. Arrange spinach mixture in crust, and pour egg mixture over spinach. Sprinkle with feta cheese.

Bake for 35 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes then cut into 4 wedges.

Serve warm.

Makes 4 servings.