Summer Luncheon

Recently I had a group of friends over for a summer luncheon.  In planning the menu I wanted to be able to fix as much as possible ahead of time so I was not tired and frustrated by the time they arrived.

I found some wonderful mixed greens at Whole Foods.  The variety was great.  I predressed the salad with a pomegranate dressing.  It has a delicate sweet/tart flavor.  It is also from Whole Foods.

For the entrée I decided to go with quiche.  I couldn’t decide what to make… so I made three!  There was a sausage, green pepper, and mushroom.  A ham, asparagus, and mushroom.  And one I made up, eight cheese lavender quiche! 

I found these fresh at a farm stand, so I put together a bowl of honeydew and blueberries.

Lemonade and ice tea were the drinks.

Himself is the baker of our family, so I was lazy with dessert.  I went to The Cupcake Connection in town and bought 2 varieties of cupcakes.  Key Lime and Sweet Potato (this one tastes very much like a carrot cake).  

It was so easy.  Everything was put together the night before.  The quiches went in the oven in the morning and all that was left was to dress the salad about 20 minutes before I expected everyone.  

I’ll share the Cheese Lavender quiche with you.  For me, making a quiche is the easiest thing in the world.  I don’t measure any more.  So the measurements I’m giving you are approximate.  Mine are for a 9X9 baking dish, so go up or down as you need to.  As you can see from the photos, I used very large baking dishes for my luncheon.  

Eight Cheese Lavender Quiche  

1 box readymade pie shells 

5 eggs 

1 cup of cream (or whole milk, but cream is better)

1 cup shredded Swiss cheese

1 cup shredded Monterey jack cheese

1 1/2 to 2 cups Italian cheese blend (the one I use has 6 cheeses – Romano, parmesan, mozzarella, provolone, Fontana and asiago)

1 Tsp Herb de Provence

1 tsp culinary lavender

Salt and pepper to your tastes

Line baking pan with pie pastry.  

Mix together all the cheeses with your hands until well blended.  Then add the four seasonings.  Again mix until blended thru the entire bowl of cheese.  Set aside.  

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with the cream.  Set aside.  

Put the cheese evenly into the pastry lined baking dish.  Pour egg mixture over top.  You should be able to just see the egg mix thru the cheese.  

Bake about 25 minutes at 425 F, until a knife inserted in the middle comes up clean.  

(If you really filled up the baking dish, you might want to set it on a cookie sheet to bake in case it bubbles over a bit.)  

Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.