The Holy Season of Lent is a time when folks may be looking for tasty, easy-to-prepare meatless meals. Over the years, The Monitor’s freelance writer Lois Rogers has created a library of meals in her Keeping The Feast column.

On Ash Wednesday and the Fridays of Lent, I always enjoy sharing family recipes created by my mother and some will indeed appear in this year’s series.

But I decided to start Keeping the Feast’s annual Lenten recipe series with the first recipe I ever created for a Lenten meal – a meatless quiche – composed of my favorite Muenster cheese, eggs, half-and-half and fresh vegetables.

The recipe, which originated in my kitchen in the ‘80s, was sparked by the quiche craze that took America by storm back then, and when I served it during Lent to family and friends it was always well received.

Adaptable and very easy to prepare, over the years, “Aunt Lowee’s Quiche,” as it is known, became a standard, go-to recipe not only for Lent, but also for dinner, brunch or lunch when guests were on the way. One friend enjoys it when I bake it for her, and there are enough left-overs to share with her parents.

Recently, another friend asked me for a basic quiche recipe that she could use for Lent that would be easy to prepare and fill with vegetables her children like.

I gave her a printout of my basic quiche recipe, and feedback indicates the kids agreed with her addition of asparagus and mushrooms, so I used them in the recipe that follows. Since then, I’ve had good reports on bell peppers, baby spinach, broccoli and tomatoes.

Aunt Lowee’s Basic Quiche Recipe

Ingredients:



1 9-inch refrigerated piecrust prepared according 

to package directions

4 large eggs

3/4 cup half-and-half

8 ounces Muenster cheese grated or cut into small cubes

To make the basic recipe your own:

Add other ingredients to your taste. Since this is Lenten fare, bacon, ham and sausage are off the table. But asparagus and mushrooms will add color, taste and texture to the dish. For this recipe, I added 2/3 cup chopped, steamed asparagus and 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms lightly sauteed together for about a minute in one tablespoon each of butter and olive oil.

Directions:

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Prepare the piecrust according to package directions. If the pie crust is frozen, let it thaw for 15 minutes first.

Saute the asparagus and mushrooms and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and half-and-half. Add the Muenster cheese and salt and pepper to taste.

Stir in the asparagus and mushroom mixture.

Pour the mixture into the pie crust and bake until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean – usually about 35 to 40 minutes.

Let sit 5 to 10 minutes before serving with a tossed salad and slices of French or Italian bread.