Crab Quiche

What's the first thing you learned how to cook? Mac and cheese? Scrambled eggs? BLTs? Weird as it may sound, one of the first things I ever learned to cook was quiche. Growing up, it was a dinner dish my mom frequently made--a deviation from her '80s Illinoisan repertoire of baked chicken, spaghetti, and meatloaf. To this day, I'm not sure how this traditional French fare infiltrated her Midwestern meal planning, but I am the beneficiary of its presence there. From early on in my marriage when I first started cooking, I had an index card with her recipe for a chicken-spinach-mushroom variety on it and used it often. In the last ten years, I've expanded from there. To date, I've tried... 

• broccoli quiche 
• quiche lorraine 
• bacon-asparagus quiche
• tomato-mozzarella-basil quiche
• ham and parsley quiche
• crab quiche
• and probably other less successful versions I don't remember.

Basically, if you have a pie crust, eggs, and cheese, you can whip up a quiche. Add what you like, take out what you like--easy dinner, boom! Or easy lunch. Or easy breakfast. Or easy brunch. For this crab quiche, you quite likely have all the ingredients except the crab (unless you're one of those crab stockpilers you see on reality TV: "Coming this June to TLC...Crab Hoarders of Maricopa County.") If you're a crab hoarder, you're gonna LOVE this one. And even if you're not a crab hoarder, give it a try. With its mild crab taste, it's a great way to work some omega 3-rich seafood into your diet even if you're not crazy about seafood. 

Crab Quiche
(Slightly adapted from Allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:

1/2 c. mayonnaise
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
3 eggs
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
dash hot sauce
1/2 c. milk
6 oz. lump crab meat (drained, if from a can)
1 1/4 c. your choice of shredded cheese (I'd recommend a Swiss or a cheddar blend)
1/2 c. chopped green onions
1 9-inch unbaked pie crust

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, beat together mayonnaise, flour, eggs, garlic powder, hot sauce, and milk until thoroughly combined. Stir in crab, cheese, and onion. Pour into pie shell.

3. Bake 35-40 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.