What I Eat in a Week: Vegan Quiche, Tacos, and Quinoa Salad

Written by on in Recipes

This week I’m showing you another week of my local produce and what I make with it. I joined a CSA this year, which means I’m getting fresh produce each week from a local farmer. Check out my previous CSA posts and videos for more plant-based meal ideas.

Over the weekend, I batch cooked everything and made three different meals to eat through the week: Mini Vegan Zucchini Quiches, Taco Fixings, and a Quinoa Chickpea Pesto Salad. Click the links below to jump right to the recipe you want and watch this week’s video linked below.

Remember that these “recipes” are more like guidelines. If an ingredient seems strange or you don’t have it on hand, feel free to omit or swap something else. These recipes used what I got from my CSA. I don’t have any control over the produce I get each week, so I create meals based on that. But you can use the basic idea and work with what you have!

Mini Vegan Zucchini Quiches

Plate half full of roasted potato cubes with ketchup and half full of mini quiches, all topped with basil

Crust Ingredients

  • 1 cup chickpea flour
  • 3 tablespoons tahini
  • 2 to 4 tablespoons of soy milk (or other plant-based milk)

Filling Ingredients

  • 2 large zucchini, shredded
  • 1 package firm tofu (about 14 ounces)
  • 4 small onions (or one regular onion), cut into chunks
  • 3 shishito peppers, cut into chunks
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons nutritional yeast
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • ½ teaspoon dried thyme
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • ½ teaspoon onion powder
  • ¼ teaspoon dried sage
  • ¼ teaspoon dried rosemary
  • ¼ teaspoon dried basil
  • ¼ teaspoon paprika
  • ¼ teaspoon chili powder
  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric
  • ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
  • Optional: salt or miso paste to taste

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Add flour to a mixing bowl with the tahini and start to combine.
  3. One tablespoon at a time, add your plant milk while you continue to mix. It may be easier to mix with your hands than a spoon. You’ll want to add just enough milk that your crust starts to stick and hold together when you squeeze it in your hand.
  4. Divide the crust evenly into a silicone muffin pan, and press firmly to evenly spread the crust into the bottom of each section. Set aside while you make the filling.
  5. Place the shredded zucchini in a clean dish towel and squeeze out some of the water, then add the zucchini to a large mixing bowl.
  6. Add the onions, peppers, and tofu to a food processor and blend until smooth.
  7. Add remaining ingredients (nutritional yeast and all the spices) to the food processor and blend to incorporate everything.
  8. Add the blended tofu mixture to the mixing bowl with the zucchini, and mix everything together.
  9. Take the muffin pan and top the crust with the tofu mixture. Fill each section to the top and press down to flatten the tops.
  10. If you have extra filling, add it to a small glass dish, press down evenly, and bake along with the mini quiches.
  11. Bake everything for about 40 to 50 minutes until the quiches are slightly golden on top.
  12. Serve with roasted potatoes* and a salad.
  13. Leftover quiches will last in the fridge for about 4 days.

Notes:

  • I chopped some yukon gold potatoes, placed them on a sheet pan and baked at 400 degrees Fahrenheit along with the quiches for about 40 minutes, flipping/tossing halfway through.

Tacos or Taco Bowls

bowl half full with homemade salsa, lettuce, cabbage, bell peppers the other half is full of brown rice, lentils, and toasted wheat tortilla triangles

Homemade Salsa Ingredients

  • 1 yellow tomato, diced
  • 1 red tomato, diced
  • 4 or 5 shishito peppers, finely chopped
  • 3 small purple spring onions (just the purple bulbs), finely chopped
  • handful fresh or 1 teaspoon dried parsley
  • juice of one half a lemon

Eggplant Cheesy Sauce Ingredients

  • 1 large eggplant, cut into half inch thick slices
  • 1 bag frozen butternut squash (10 ounces)
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • ½ teaspoon onion powder
  • ⅛ teaspoon turmeric
  • ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
  • ⅛ teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon cashew powder (or a few whole cashews soaked)
  • 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
  • 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
  • ¼ cup water or vegetable broth

Taco Lentil Ingredients*

  • 1 cup dry french lentils, rinsed
  • 2 cups water
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons salsa
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder

Additional Ingredients

  • whole wheat or corn tortillas
  • shredded cabbage
  • shredded lettuce
  • sliced bell peppers
  • cooked brown rice
  • any other favorite taco toppings (olives, avocado, other veggies, etc)

Directions

  1. Mix all salsa ingredients together in a bowl or storage container. Set aside.
  2. For the cheesy sauce: bake the eggplant slices and butternut squash on a sheet pan at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 20-30 minutes. Allow to cool enough that you can handle the eggplant to remove the skin. Add the roasted eggplant, squash, and remaining ingredients to a high powered blender and blend until smooth. Add more liquid as needed to get your desired consistency.
  3. For the taco lentils: Add all ingredients to a 3 quart Instant Pot and cook at high pressure for 5 minutes, allow a 10 minute natural release.
  4. For tacos: warm your tortillas in the microwave or a dry skillet and then fill with the lentils, salsa, cheesy sauce and any other toppings you like!
  5. For taco bowls: Cut the tortillas into wedges and bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit until crispy to make tortilla chips. Combine all other ingredients into a bowl and serve with the chips.

Notes: For the taco lentils, feel free to adjust the spices to your taste or simply use a pre-made taco seasoning instead.

Quinoa Chickpea Pesto Salad

Bowl of baby greens topped with a mixture of quinoa, chickpeas and vegetables

Pesto Ingredients

  • Large bunch of basil (2 or 3 cups loosely packed)
  • ¼ cup pistachios
  • Juice of 1 ½ lemons
  • 1 or 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 4 to 5 shishito peppers
  • 3 to 4 scallions (green parts reserved from the spring onions used with the taco bowls)
  • 2 tiny onions (or ½ small onion, or a shallot)
  • Optional: black pepper and salt or miso paste to taste

Salad Ingredients

  • 2 small chinese eggplant, diced
  • 1 yellow summer squash, diced
  • 1 can chickpeas drained and rinsed
  • 1 to 2 cups cooked quinoa
  • ½ red bell pepper, diced
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 to 2 cups prepared quinoa
  • Prepared pesto

Directions

  1. Prepare the pesto by adding everything to a food processor and blending until smooth. Add more vinegar, lemon juice, or some water if needed to blend to your desired consistency.
  2. Sauté the eggplant and squash in a large, dry skillet for about 5 minutes. If anything starts to stick, add a little water or veggie broth.
  3. Add remaining ingredients to the skillet and mix everything to combine and evenly distribute the pesto. If you want to eat the salad warm, you can continue to cook long enough to warm the chickpeas through.
  4. If serving cold, transfer to a storage container and chill in the fridge overnight or at least a couple hours.
  5. Serve warm or cold on a bed of greens. Leftovers will last in the fridge for about 4 days.