Couscous, red pepper, and goat cheese quiche

So, this is my first post ever. I decided to start this blog to share with others my love of food and photography. After receiving my art degree from the University of Virginia, I moved further south to Charleston, SC to pursue my second passion-the kitchen. I am now in my first semester at the Culinary Institute of Charleston, and, even though I only have class a couple days a week, I am in the kitchen as much as is temporally possible. My first post is a recipe for a little something I whipped up for brunch a couple weekends ago. As a student, I tend to make large portions of things, like pasta or rice, and use those as the base for meals when I am in a time crunch. After a dinner of couscous on Friday, I decided to see what interesting concoction I could invent with the leftovers. So here it is. My garlic couscous, red pepper, and goat cheese quiche. It's great for breakfast or lunch, and even better with side of roasted lemongrass, dill potato wedges.





Couscous, red pepper, and goat cheese quiche with dill, lemongrass roasted potatoes:


The Quiche:
1 shallot
1 clove garlic
1 red pepper
2 roma tomatoes
3-4 leaves fresh basil, chifonade
olive oil
8 eggs
1/2 c. unsweetened almond milk

2 c. cooked couscous, about 2/3 c. dry

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 450. Cook couscous using package directions. Set aside. Saute diced shallot, garlic, red pepper and tomatoes in olive oil until almost tender. Add the basil and cook until tender. Remove them from the heat and set aside. Saute cooked couscous just to brown. Grease a 9x9 glass pan and layer the couscous in the pan, pressing down to form a crust. Then layer on the sautéed vegetables. Wisk together the eggs, milk, and salt and pepper to taste. Pour the egg mixture over the vegetable layer. Crumble plain goat cheese on the top. Bake in 450 oven for 20 minutes.













Dill and Lemongrass Potatoes:

1/2 # mix of purple, pink, and yellow potatoes
3 Tbsp. olive oil
2 sprigs fresh dill, minced
1 Tbsp. dried lemongrass

Preheat oven to 400. Cube potatoes or cut into wedges and place on a baking sheet. Coat potatoes with olive oil then sprinkle with dill and lemongrass. Cook for 20-30 minutes, depending on size of potatoes and oven variations, or until the edges brown.