Dairy-free Quiche Recipe

I recently realized that my boys had NEVER tasted quiche.  With the high amounts of cream and cheese in most quiches, I wasn’t sure if it was worth adapting.  That said, we have recently created a DELICIOUS dairy-free quiche recipe that all my kids enjoy.  You don’t even miss the cheese!  It is completely adaptable and flexible and you can put whatever fillings in it that you want.  Here it is:

1 recipe pie crust (See below OR dairy-free store bought pie crust)
6 eggs
3/4 c plain rice milk (or milk alternative of choice)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 dash nutmeg (optional)
3 T all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 small onion, chopped
1 T dairy-free margarine (or olive oil)
Any of these other ingredients (pick and choose what you want):  tomatoes, green onions, chopped spinach, mushrooms, chopped green or red peppers, crumbled bacon, sausage, seafood, shredded zucchini, chopped asparagus, and/or shredded and cooked potatoes.  (NOTE:  The more additional ingredients you put in, the deeper the pie dish you’ll need to use.)

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Follow pie crust recipe and pre-bake for 10 minutes.  While baking, whisk together eggs, rice milk, salt, pepper, nutmeg (optional), flour, and baking powder.  Set aside.  In a frying pan, sauté onions and other desired fillings (that need sautéing)  in 1 T dairy-free margarine OR olive oil.  When pie crust is ready, take out from oven and place sautéed vegetables and desired meats into pie dish.  Pour egg mixture on top, shaking lightly to allow mixture to settle in-between ingredients.  Place in oven and cook for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted  comes out clean.  Quiche will rise while baking, but should settle back down once you remove it from the oven.  You can add dairy-free cheese, if desired, to mixture, but we found that it was unnecessary.  My kids enjoyed eating it with salsa on the side.
Variation:  Add 1 - 4-oz can of diced green chilies, drained.  Serve with salsa.

Rich and Flaky Pie Crust:
(This is 1/2 of a recipe.  It makes 1 pie shell.)
1/2 c vegetable shortening
1/4-1/2 tsp. salt (scant)
1 c all purpose flour
3-4 T ice water

Combine salt and flour in a bowl.  Add shortening.  Cut shortening into salt and flour with a pastry cutter or fork.  Add water.  Stir with spoon until mixture clings together in a ball.  Dough may be slightly moist.  If dough is too dry or moist add additional water or flour as needed.  Don’t over mis.  You should see thin swirls of shortening throughout the dough.  Flour rolling surface and roll out as desired.  To transfer the crust from the rolling surface to the pie pan, fold the crust in half twice.  Lift and unfold crust over pie pan.