I tend to eat more vegetarian meals in the winter time, saving meat for the warmer months when I can smoke and grill outside. Here is one I especially like. It is from my Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for Health Cookbook. I was attracted to it first by the ingredients for the crust and then the filling mixture really caught my eye. I wasn't disappointed! If you aren't familiar with the Moosewood Restaurant in upstate New York and their numerous cookbooks, you don't know what you are missing!
For the Crust:
2 cups cooked brown rice
1/2 cup walnuts
1/4 cup pitted Kalamata olives
For the Filling:
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cups asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups thinly sliced leeks
1 cup diced red bell pepper
3 ounces neufchatel cheese
1 cup grated or crumbled feta cheese
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup chopped fresh dill
pinch or ground black pepper
In a food processor, pulse the crust ingredients until crumbly. Set aside
Warm the oil in a skillet or saucepan on medium heat. Add the asparagus and salt and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the leeks and cook for 3 minutes. Add the bell pepper, cover and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until all the vegetables are tender, about 5 or 6 minutes. Place the neufschatel on top of the vegetables, cover, turn off the heat, and let sit for several minutes to soften.
Meanwhile, press the crust mixture into a lightly oiled 9 inched pie plate.
Stir the neufschatel throughout the vegetables. Add 1/4 cup of the feta cheese and the eggs, dill, and black pepper to the skillet and mix well. Spread the filling in the pie crust and top with remaining feta.
Bake in preheated 350 oven until the filling is set and golden, about 35 minutes.
Variations: Add 2 or 3 chopped, softened sundried tomatoes in place of the olives in the crust.
Use broccoli instead of asparagus in the filling.
