Crustless Mini Quiches

Every year I line up outside with my neighbors to watch the marathon runners go past our building. It's awesome, it's inspiring, and it's something I think every New Yorker should witness at least once. I decided, this year, to throw a party that morning, and after we cheer on the crowds, we can eat! Win-win. I don't have to run 26.2 miles AND I get brunch! (Note--these just happen to be gluten-free as well--if you skip the flour, which you will not miss)

I found a recipe on TheKitchn.com, but it was further down in the comments where I found THE recipe. It was a little simpler, more streamlined. The Kitchn's recipe called for a 1/4 cup of cornstarch, which just seems unnecessary to me. In the comments section I saw another reader's suggestion, which was flawlessly simple:

4 large eggs
3/4 cup whole milk
1 Tbsp flour
Sauteed veggies (about 2 cups)
grated cheese

Keeping close to the Kitchn's recipe, I sauteed some onions and zucchini, threw in some shallots, added plenty of pepper and a little salt (the cheese is salty so I wanted to be careful with this). I had a few leftover mushrooms, too, and those went right in the pile. I took a bite of it before moving on to make sure it was all seasoned right- yum!

Thanks to one of my favorite kitchen toys, my Williams-Sonoma chopper, all that dicing took about, oh, ONE MINUTE. Awesome.

That's right...2 zucchini, one onion, 2 shallots, and a mess o' mushrooms. Chop, chop, chop, DONE! I LOVE this chopper.

For the cheese, I used Gruyere (my favorite for quiche) which was on sale at FreshDirect.com, and a little bit of Emmenthaler, which is much cheaper but not quite as delicious. :)

You can do these in steps, a pinch of cheese, a teaspoon of filling, a tablespoon of egg mixture, or you can just mix it all together and go that way, too. Either way it will give you savory, scrumptious bites of deliciousness that are so easy to prepare ahead (giving you way more time with your guests!) And yeah, I totally copied the composition of the step-by-step photo on the Kitchn's site--such a pretty shot!

I made a few dozen of these in the week before my party, and I can testify that they reheated beautifully in the oven. ABF's nieces both loved this, even the one who wasn't sure about quiche at first--victory! *I* loved this! These are now a staple from here on out--they keep beautifully in the freezer and heat up in 5 mere minutes in the oven (you could use the microwave, too, but I thought the oven warming resulted in a better texture). The possibilities are endless, and so are the rave reviews! Your guests will love these.