Spinach and Feta Quiche with Quinoa Crust

Crust:

2 cups cooked quinoa, chilled
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 large egg, beaten

Filling:
1 teaspoon canola oil
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
1 (5 oz.) bag baby spinach
1/2 cup (1%) low-fat milk
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
4 large eggs
2 large egg whites
1.5 ounces feta cheese

1. For the crust, preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Combine quinoa, pepper, and egg in a bowl, stirring well.  Press mixture into bottom and up sides of a 9 inch pie plate coated with cooking spray.  Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.  Cool.
3. For the filling, heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat.  Add oil and onion; saute 3 minutes.  Add spinach; saute 3 minutes.  Remove from heat; cool.

Combine milk and next 5 ingredients in a bowl; stir with a whisk.  Arrange spinach mixture over crust; pour egg mixture over spinach.  Sprinkle with feta.  Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes.  Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Tim's Notes:  When making the spinach onion filling, make sure to saute in a big pan.  High sides work well.  Once the spinach is wilted a little, things will be fine, but when first adding the spinach, there is a lot of volume to it.  This recipe was constructed to be lower calorie.  Thus the canola oil and the 1 % milk.  Olive oil, and 2 % milk are also fine.  The second time I made this, I also added a couple of mushrooms, and by a couple, I do mean TWO... finely chopped.  This is a tightly constructed recipe and there isn't a lot of wiggle room for extra ingredients (unless you were to use a deep dish pie plate).  I sautéed the mushrooms with the onions.  I also served this quiche with the suggested  kale/grapefruit salad, which I will post separately.  I like recipes like this because while the quiche is baking, you can make the salad and clean up the dishes. Someone asked me if the quinoa crust would be good for sweet fillings.  I honestly don't know, but experiment if you like.  I would omit the black pepper.  Maybe add cinnamon, or another sweet spice like nutmeg, ginger, cardamom, or allspice?  It might be good with a vanilla or custard filling, again, with a little cinnamon or nutmeg, perhaps?  Again, we're off the map, so you'd be on your own!