Asparagus & Peas Quiche

Ingredients:

Quiche tart:

• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 cup almond meal
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 tbsp cold butter, cubed
• 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp icy cold water

Quiche Filling:

• 2/3 cup fresh shelled peas
• 1/2 lbs fresh asparagus, sliced diagonally
• water
• some salt
• 4 egg whites
• 8 oz goat cheese, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup low-fat milk
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
• 1/2 tsp red chili powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 2 tbsp chopped chives

Directions:

1. Sift whole wheat pastry flour, almond meal and salt into a food processor.
2. Add cubed cold butter and pulse until flour resembles course crumbs. Do not over-pulse.
3. Gradually add icy cold water and pulse until dough comes together into a ball.
4. Gather dough ball, cover with a cling-wrap and chill dough to rest for 30 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 350F.
6. Lightly dust dough ball with some flour. Place dough ball in between two large parchment paper. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough to fit a 9 inch tart pan. Roll the dough out quickly to avoid melting butter and overworking dough.
7. Remove top parchment paper. Lightly flour rolling pin to pick up the rolled dough and gently lay it into a tart pan.
8. Using your fingers, gently mold the dough to the shape of the tart pan and trim any excess dough.
9. With a fork, gently prick small holes onto tart shell. Cover/line dough with parchment paper and add dried beans to blind-bake tart shell for 15 minutes.
10. Remove tart shell from the oven. Carefully discard parchment with dried beans and return tart shell to bake for another 5 minutes or until lightly browned.
11. Tart shell mush be completely cooled before adding the filling.
12. While tart shell cools, heat a saucepan with some water on medium high to boil. Salt the water before adding in freshly shelled peas and sliced asparagus. Blanch for a minute. Add the blanched greens into an icy cold water bath to stop cooking and set the color. Drain greens in a colander and set aside.
13. In a large bowl, add 4 egg whites and whip until foamy (about 2 minutes). In a separate bowl, add goat cheese and low-fat milk. Whisk until smooth.
14. Add smooth goat cheese into foamy egg whites. Stir to combine. Sprinkle in the rest of ingredients, i.e nutmeg, cardamom, red chili powder, salt, black pepper and chives. Whisk everything until smooth and combined.
15. Using some paper towels, pat blanched greens to completely dry.
16. Fill cooled tart shell with half of the creamy quiche filling and top it with half of peas and asparagus. Repeat.
17. Bake in the preheated 350F oven for 40 minutes or until quiche is nicely set and lightly browned on the edges.
18. Allow quiche to cool on a cooling rack. Serve it warm or room temperature on a bed of house salad.