Turkey Bacon and Spinach Quiche with Sweet Potato Crust

From our friends at the American Heart Association

Image courtesy of the American Heart Association

Servings: 5 | Serving size: 2 slices

Image courtesy of the American Heart Association

Usually made with gobs of cheese, heavy cream, and eggs, quiche is normally a calorie-dense dish. Instead, this quiche slashes calories and fat with egg whites, fat-free cheese, uncured, nitrate-free turkey bacon and skim milk — not to mention a crust made of grated sweet potatoes that is so tasty, you’ll never miss traditional pastry dough. Served hot, cold, or at room temperature, quiche no longer needs to be an indulgence.

Ingredients

1 sweet potato (washed)

1 teaspoon canola oil

1 medium yellow onion (finely diced)

6 slices uncured, nitrate-free turkey bacon (thinly sliced)

1 10-ounce packaged, frozen, chopped spinach (thawed)

3/4 teaspoon dried dill

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 large eggs

4 large egg whites

1/4 cup skim milk

1 1/2 tablespoons fat-free feta cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F.
Place a box grater into medium bowl. Grate the sweet potato until there are 2 cups grated sweet potato. Coat a 9-inch pie plate with cooking spray. Gently press the sweet potato into the bottom of the pie plate and up the sides; the sweet potatoes will be loose but will hold together once cooked. Place in the oven and bake until sweet potato crust is cooked, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and decrease oven temperature to 350°F.
Meanwhile, in a medium pan, warm oil over medium-high heat. Finely dice the onion and add to the pan. Cook until almost translucent, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add turkey bacon, continuing to stir and cook until onions and bacon begin to brown, about 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in spinach, dill, salt, and pepper; cook until water from the spinach is released, about 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Use a spatula to transfer mixture from pan into the sweet potato pie shell.
In a bowl, add eggs, egg whites, and milk. Using a fork, whisk to combine. Pour eggs over vegetable mixture in the pie shell. Dot the feta cheese over the top of the quiche.
Cook quiche in oven until eggs in the center are set, about 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool just a few minutes before slicing. Serve.

Quick Tips

Cooking Tip: A good way to test if the eggs in a quiche are set is to stick a toothpick or fork right in the center of the quiche. It it's clean when removed, the eggs are fully cooked.

Cooking Tip: Frozen and thawed greens tend to work better in quiches since a lot of the liquid has already been cooked out of them before freezing. To use fresh greens, make sure to sauté them well and squeeze out any liquid before adding to the quiche.

Keep it Healthy: Using a layer of grated sweet potatoes in place of a pastry crust not only slashes extra calories and saturated fat, it adds a touch of subtle sweetness to the quiche. Consider going this route for a few dessert pies as well, like pumpkin pie.

Nutrition Facts

Per serving (2 slices serves 5)

Calories	136
Total Fat	5.0 g (1.4 g saturated fat, 0.0 g trans fat, 1.2 g polyunsaturated fat, 2.0 g monounsaturated fat)
Cholesterol	87 mg
Sodium	458 mg
Total Carbohydrate	11 g (3 g dietary fiber, 4 g sugars, 0 g added sugars)
Protein	12 g
Dietary Exchanges	2 vegetable, 2 lean meat