Healthier Crab Quiche

This recipe is an old favorite of mine that I originally received from a classmate, and then I modified it to reduce some of the fat and calories. When I'm in the mood to spice things up, I splash my slice of this crab quiche with several dashes of Crabanero Hot Sauce, made with Old Bay Seasoning.

Ingredients
1 unbaked pie crust (Pillsbury brand works well)
Egg substitute equivalent to 4 eggs (I use Egg Beaters brand)
1/2 cup whipping cream (you can substitute half of this with Half & Half)
1 can reduced fat Cream of Mushroom Soup or reduced fat Cream of Celery Soup
1 cup grated lower fat cheese (Gruyere or Cheddar or other cheese of your choice)
Approx 1 cup steamed or microwaved chopped veggies of your choice, drained (good choices are sweet or bell peppers, onion, broccoli, baby spinach)
Approx 1 cup cooked crabmeat or crabmeat substitute
Nutmeg or Mace to sprinkle on top

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, beat the egg substitute, whipping cream and soup with an electric mixer until you see lots of bubbles. Place the pie crust in a quiche dish or pie plate, then sprinkle the cheese in an even layer, followed by the crabmeat and then the veggies. Pour the egg mixture over the veggies and then sprinkle with nutmeg or mace. Bake at 375 degrees for 1 hr to 1 1/4 hrs, until quiche has set and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean (the top will be golden brown). Depending on your oven, you may need to adjust the temperature down to 350 degrees or up to 400 or even 425 degrees.

Variation: For a change of pace, you can substitute Cream of Tomato Soup instead of the mushroom or celery soup, and then sprinkle the quiche with Tarragon instead of nutmeg or mace. When I make the quiche with tomato soup, my hot sauce of choice is either Blues Habanero Reserve Hot Sauce, made with Red Savina habaneros in a tomato-lemon-vinegar base, or Samson's Sauce, an old-fashioned pepper sauce with a tangy vinegar-tomato base.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria