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Zucchini asparagus dill and feta quiche 

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What do you make when you have one little zucchini, a couple stalks of asparagus and a few sprigs of dill? Well, not much at first. But with a few eggs, a splash of milk and a bit of cheese you have the makings of a great looking quiche!

Olea Nutrition | zucchini dill asparagus quiche  

I happened to have a frozen pie crust in my freezer or else this would have turned into a frittata. Yes, a frittata is literally a quiche with no crust, so if you’re looking for a low carb version of this (although I don’t know why you would), just omit the crust and you have a tasty frittata!

Now, quiche is one of those dishes that I feel most people think that it is a dish reserved for tiny cute French bistros but it is so easy! Providing you use my pie crust cheat of course.

Onwards!

Olea Nutrition | zucchini dill asparagus quiche
So I needed to use up a couple leftover veggies before they headed to the compost so seeing as though quiche/frittata is one of the best “pantry” dishes, where you can literally throw whatever your crisper contains and it will be amazing, I thought, yes, quiche! With a little dill, a little feta (always makes it betta 🤣), should be a solid dish!

First, chop up your veg and sauté to take the rawness out and set aside.

Olea Nutrition | zucchini dill asparagus quiche
In a separate bowl, whisk up 3 eggs and 1 cup milk. Shred 1 cup of cheddar cheese (I also added 1/4 cup feta on top). Take out your pie crust from the freezer to thaw a touch. Sprinkle half your cheese in the bottom of pie crust and add cooked veggies on top of cheese.

Olea Nutrition | zucchini dill asparagus quiche
Sprinkle the rest of your cheese on top and pour egg/milk mixture into pie crust.

Olea Nutrition | zucchini dill asparagus quiche
Place quiche on a baking sheet and bake in an oven preheated to 425F for 15 minutes. Turn oven down to 350F and cook for another 30-35 minutes until egg mixture is set. You can test doneness by poking a toothpick in the center and if it comes out clean it’s all done!


The beauty of this recipe is that you can keep the egg/milk/cheese mixture the same and change up the veggies for anything! I’ve done wild mushroom, turkey bacon and Swiss; for a Mediterranean flava, sundried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, Kalamata olives and feta or this beauty with zucchini and asparagus. Experiment with whatever you have!

ENJOY!

Greek bulgur stuffed vegetables. Delicious and easy!

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Greek bulgur stuffed vegetables.

Greek bulgur stuffed vegetables | Olea Nutrition
It’s something I crave every summer when the temperature is hot, the sun is out late into the evening and the vegetables are plentiful. Plus it takes me back to Greece. It’s definitely a nostalgic dish for me.

My little guy loves it because it is filled with his favourite; tomatoes and rice, but when you add in bulgur or quinoa or other whole grains, they get added nutrition but with a familiar food. Moms are experts at hiding nutrition in foods aren’t we!?

This dish is great because it’s super satisfying, nutrient dense of course and looks like a fancy dish but it really is easier than it looks!

My Theia Kiki taught me some tricks to bring the flavours of the vegetables out even more, specifically the tomatoes and peppers…sprinkle a dash of sugar in the hollow tomato and a dash of salt in the peppers. Whether it does enhance them or not is up to you but all I know is “don’t mess with the original recipe!”. ☺️

Now, this recipe is intended to be modifiable, meaning, the veggies can be whatever you have or whatever looks good at the market; tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, eggplant, but it has to be something that can be hollowed out and stuffed. Also, the grain can be what you have on hand also; rice, quinoa, bulgur, lentils, basmati rice, brown rice, freekeh, wheat berries, etc, etc.  This is where I DO mess with the recipe! The idea is to make it and make it often but to change it up so to keep it interesting!

I serve my stuffed veggies with a side salad and feta because yes, I eat feta with everything. Tzatziki on the side is also delish!

Greek bulgur stuffed vegetables | Olea Nutrition

 

Greek bulgur stuffed vegetables
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Entree
Cuisine: Greek
Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • ½ lb, ground beef (sub out beef for 1 cup chickpeas or 1 cup cooked lentils for veg option)
  • ½ cup bulgur wheat, coarse
  • ½ cup brown rice
  • 2 cup water
  • 2 cup tomato puree
  • 3 lbs assorted vegetables,tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini or peppers
Instructions
  1. Heat olive oil in dutch oven or large saute pan.
  2. Add chopped onion and cook over medium heat until translucent and fragrant.
  3. Add ground beef and cook until brown. *skip for veg option
  4. Rinse bulgur and rice until cold water until water runs clear, drain.
  5. Add bulgur and rice to pan and add 1 cup water and 1 cup tomato puree to pan and stir.
  6. Season with salt and pepper.
  7. Simmer until rice is cooked through.
  8. *Add in cooked chickpeas or lentils for veg option
  9. Hollow out vegetables with a tablespoon.
  10. Fill veggies with rice and beef mixture and top with their own lid (see picture).
  11. Place stuffed vegetables in a shallow casserole dish and fill bottom of dish halfway with remaining water and tomato sauce (helps cook the veggies quicker).
  12. Cover and bake in a oven preheated to 350F for 30-45 min.
  13. Test doneness of veggies by pricking with a knife.
  14. ENJOY
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Nutrition: Meat option

Nutrition: Vegetarian option

Cook your fish in olive oil for a nutritional powerpunch

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We all know that olive oil is good for our health as is eating fish on a regular basis, but now there’s new research showing that consuming them together has remarkable effects on our cholesterol and ups our free radical fighting power – read cancer-fighter in a meal.

Extra-virgin olive oil and fish alone have powerful nutritive benefits, both having cholesterol-lowering and antioxidant effects, however, researchers from the University of Londrina in Parana, Brazil found that fish oil combined with extra-virgin olive oil worked together to significantly lower cholesterol in patients with metabolic syndrome when compared to fish oil or olive oil alone.  
The fish/olive oil combo also acted to decrease markers of oxidative stress and up the antioxidant activity more than fish oil, marking the two oils powerful against free radicals when consumed together.

Some easy ways to incorporate this research in our daily lives is simply to cook your fish in olive oil, finish your cooked fish with a nice drizzle of high quality extra-virgin olive oil or poach a fillet of your favorite fish in an olive oil bath.  Whichever way you choose to mix the two, you’ll be elevating the flavour of your meal along with protecting yourself from disease with good nutrition through good food.

Source: Venturini, D et al. Journal of Nutrition, 2015.

 Fish and olive oil | Olea Nutrition

Strengthen your mind with the Mediterranean diet.

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Feeling forgetful? Adding olive oil or nuts while following a Mediterranean diet lifestyle may help to strengthen your mind, suggests new research published in the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA).
 Olive oil Mediterranean diet

It is now fairly well known that the Mediterranean diet is protective against heart disease and cancers, but new research is constantly showing that the Mediterranean diet is helpful for preventing and protecting against many conditions, providing an all-encompassing way of eating that nourishes and protects, but you’ll be eating this way because it’s delicious, trust me.  


The Mediterranean diet is coined after the foodways of the countries and cultures lining the Mediterranean Sea, from Spain and southern France all the way to Lebanon and Egypt back to Morocco.  These cuisines are characterized by a heavy consumption of fruits and vegetables, grains and legumes and olive oil but light on the dairy and even less on the meat. 

Olive oil Mediterranean diet

Vegetable vendor in Heraklion, Crete, Greece


Oxidative stress is also one of the culprits behind age-related cognitive decline, or dementia, and population studies have reported that the Mediterranean antioxidant-rich pattern of eating slows the onset and progression of dementia.  


To confirm these observations, a group of researchers from Barcelona, Spain heading the PREDIMED study, or Prevención con Dieta Mediterránea, aimed to investigate whether consuming a Mediterranean diet with antioxidant-rich foods would influence cognitive function when compared to a non-Mediterranean style diet.  
A group of 447 participants, healthy but with high risk of heart disease, and an average age of 67 years, were fed either a Mediterranean diet supplemented with nuts (30 grams/day), olive oil (1 litre/week) or a control diet (reduced-fat), over the course of 6 years, where they were then tested on 3 main cognitive measures: memory, attention and executive function, and global cognitive function.  

Overall, the Mediterranean diet with olive oil and nuts scored significantly better in all follow-up cognitive tests than the non-Mediterranean diet.  


Bottom line: consuming a Mediterranean diet supplemented with olive oil and nuts may improve cognitive function and delay the onset or progression of dementia in older adults.

Now, don’t think that the Mediterranean diet is only good for aging minds, adopting a Mediterranean diet way of eating is beneficial at all ages, just think of it as you’re getting a head start on health!

Source: Valls-Pedret, C et al. 2015. JAMA.

Olive oil Mediterranean diet

Fruit vendor, Istanbul, Turkey