Broccoli & Cheddar Quiche with a Brown Rice Crust

Hi everyone!  I have a great recipe to share with you all today.  Doesn't that slice of quiche above make you hungry?  It is so good, filled with bright green pieces of broccoli and gooey, cheddar cheese, and suprisingly, the crust is not your traditional butter-filled crust.  This crust is actually made with brown rice!

Before I share the recipe, I'll also update you all with some news in my life.  Let's see...within the last week I've finally taken my final and finished my first nursing class!  This is great news, because it means I finally get a 2 week break from school.  I can now focus a little more time on updating this blog and catching up on my blog-reading. 

Also, Tony and I have been trying to fit in time for our wedding "to-do's."  We still have a few vendors to find, and details to plan but so far I'm not feeling too much pressure!  One thing we did finally get around to is mailing out our save-the-date cards!  I'm so happy with the way they turned out:

We used one of our engagement photos for the card.  We have some other AMAZING photos taken by our talented photographer, Wes Hamachi, which I will eventually share with you in the future.  Wes focuses a lot more on landscape photography, but he's a great engagement photographer as well!  Check out his website to see some absolutely beautiful landscape photos.

Now, as for this quiche, most of the ingredients in it are pretty typical (egg, cheese, veggies) but what really makes this quiche unique is its crust.  The crust is not your typical buttery pie crust.  Instead, this crispy crust is made out of brown rice!  I was immediately intrigued with this idea when I first discovered this recipe because not only did I not feel like going through the efforts of making and rolling out pie dough, but the brown rice is a healthier option.

See how crispy the brown rice turns out?  This is due to the twice-baked method.  The crust is pressed in the pan and baked for about 7 minutes, then the filling is added and baked again for another 35 minutes.  It results in a crisp golden crust.  Oh, and if you're wondering what those dark grains are within the crust, I actually didn't use pure brown rice.  I used leftover rice from dinner the night before, which I got from Trader Joe's and is described on its package as a "brown rice medley" so there were some other grains in this crust as well...and it still turned out delicious!  I hope you enjoy this recipe and are inspired by this new brown rice crust method.

Broccoli & Cheddar Quiche with a Brown Rice Crust
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Yield:  6 servings
Recipe from A Little Bit Crunchy..., originally from Closet Cooking

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked brown rice
1/4 cup cheddar cheese, finely grated
5 eggs
1 cup milk
2 cups broccoli, cut into bite sized pieces and blanched
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
4 green onions, sliced
1 pinch nutmeg
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:
Mix the rice, finely grated cheese and one egg in a bowl.  Press the rice mixture into a pie plate, about 1/4-inch thick. 

Bake in a preheated 450 degree F oven until the edges and bottom start turning golden brown, about 5 to 7 minutes.

Mix the remaining eggs, milk, broccoli, sharp cheddar cheese and green onions in a bowl and season with salt and pepper.  Pour the egg mixture into the pie crust.

Bake in a preheated 375 degree F oven until golden brown and set in the center, about 30 to 35 minutes.