"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself; therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man."
-George Bernard Shaw
I am "one of those people" who is very sensitive to dietary grains, particularly ones that have been processed into flour. It's not about gluten, necessarily: glutenin is one of many irritant compounds found in the skin of grains (most of them are part of a class of proteins called "saponins"), and flour tends to concentrate these compounds to an even greater level than eating the grains themselves. Anyway, as a result, I developed a grainless pie crust recipe (The Money Crust) so I could still make one of my favorite dishes: quiche.
This recipe goes a step further though. Rather than mixing up a crust out of cashew flour, which is high in healthy fats and protein but, like most flours, essentially devoid of real fiber, I decided that the body of the quiche had enough fat and protein, and I tried using an acorn squash for the crust instead. High in fiber and vitamins (especially in the skin), the result was an instant hit: Le Squiche!!!
Le Squiche: a part of this complete breakfast.
One of the great things about a quiche is there are essentially countless ways to make it. You want cheese? Put cheese in it (I like goat feta best). You want meat? Put meat in it (just cook it separately first!). Don't like onions? Strike the onions! The combinations are only limited by the cook's creative instincts and the availability of the ingredients (I've never put alligator in a quiche, but I've tried it with kangaroo!). My standard combination is mushrooms, onions, and walnuts, with or without meat (the one pictured has ground bear meat in it; not to be confused with water bear meat, although I suppose it's possible that would be there anyway). Sometimes I add kale or chard to the mix, or I simply serve the dish on a bed of arugula (as shown above).
The basic rules are as follows:
- Pre-bake the squash halves for ~20 minutes at 350F: cut the squash in half, scoop the seeds/strings into your compost, and place cut-side-down in a millimeter or two of water in a glass baking dish or casserole. Depending on how big the seed cavity is, you may wish to scrape some of the flesh out with a spoon to make room for more filling. Save those squash bits for your next breakfast scramble: they're delicious with eggs!
- Lightly saute the fillings (especially meat and/or onions and/or mushrooms) while the squash halves are pre-baking: don't overcook them, but meat should be browned to an edible "doneness" and veggies like potatoes and onions and mushrooms should be given enough of a head start that they're tender when the Squiche is done. Leafy greens, bell peppers, tomatoes, celery, walnuts, cheese, and so on (anything usually eaten "raw") can be added to the Squiche without any pre-cooking. I also do not pre-cook garlic.
- One squash generally has room for 5-6 eggs, depending how much non-egg filling there is too. Beat these into a scrambled state with a dash of salt, black pepper, and cumin. If your squash is not perfectly symmetrical and balanced (usually they're not...), it may be helpful to shave off a little from the skin side so that it sits level while baking. Add a layer of leafy greens if you're using them, then the sauteed meat/veggies, then slowly pour the eggs into all this, allowing them to fill in the cracks (if you pour too fast, the eggs will run over the surface/edges and do little good to your Squiche).
- Bake the filled squash halves cut-side-up for about half an hour, also at 350F. Your Squiche is done baking when a fork or toothpick can be inserted and removed clean (like a cake). Let it set for about ten minutes before serving or it may fall apart.
Cross-section of a well-set Squiche... this one had zucchini in it too! Crazy? Crazy delicious!
Serves four to six people. Preparation takes about an hour total. Refrigerate leftovers. Enjoy your food, enjoy your life!
Feel free to share this unreasonably revolutionary recipe, preferably with due credit/linkage to this page. Thank you!