Ham and quiche dish is a convenient midweek dinner

You can have this homemade quiche ready in just 25 minutes. I like to serve a warm, inviting quiche for a quick midweek supper, but don’t want to fuss with pastry dough. The secret to saving time and calories is to use bread crumbs for the crust instead. You can still slice and serve the quiche with this crust.

Helpful hints:

If whole wheat bread crumbs are not available, process 2 slices of whole wheat bread in the food processor to make crumbs.

Any type of mushrooms can be used. If using meaty portobello mushrooms, bake pie 5 minutes longer as they will add more liquid to the pie.

A casserole dish can be used instead of a pie plate.

Ham and Wild Mushroom Quiche

By Linda Gassenheimer

Olive oil spray

1/2 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs

1/2 pound reduced-sodium deli ham, torn into bite-size pieces

1 cup sliced shiitake mushrooms

1 cup sliced red onion

1 cup sliced red bell pepper

2 large eggs

4 egg whites

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 cup skim milk

1/2 cup shredded, reduced-fat, sharp cheddar cheese

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray bottom and sides of pie plate with olive oil spray. Sprinkle breadcrumbs over bottom and sides of plate. Roll the plate around to make sure the sides are covered with crumbs. Gently shake the plate to evenly distribute excess crumbs across the bottom.

Place the ham, mushrooms, onion and red bell pepper in the pie plate. In a small bowl, lightly beat the 2 whole eggs and 4 egg whites with a fork. Add the nutmeg, milk, cheese and salt and pepper to taste. Pour into the prepared pie plate. Press the ingredients under the eggs with a fork. Place in oven for 25 minutes. The pie should be firm. Leave a little longer if needed. Remove, cut in halves and serve.

Yield: 2 servings

Per serving: 487 calories (25 percent from fat), 13.6 g fat (4.7 g saturated,6 g monounsaturated), 217 mg cholesterol, 48.6 g protein, 34.6 g carbohydrates, 3.6 g fiber, 1618 mg sodium.

Linda Gassenheimer is the author, most recently, of “Delicious One-Pot Dishes,” featuring 60 recipes designed to be stewed, braised, slow-cooked or steamed, each in a singlse pot. Additional titles by Gassenheimer include “Quick and Easy Chicken,” “Simply Smoothies: Fresh & Fast Diabetes-Friendly Snacks & Complete Meals,” “Fast and Flavorful: Great Diabetes Meals from Market to Table” and “The Flavors of the Florida Keys.” Her website is dinnerinminutes.com. Follow her on Twitter @lgassenheimer.