Today’s guest post is a recipe from Alex Navarro and Mary Gines, two friends of mine who moved to the Phoenix area to start their online blog FitLivingFoodies.com. They’ve both trained at the Glute Lab for a period of time and once in a while they’ll bring over a recipe for me to try – so far I’ve loved every single one! I’ve been begging them to share some of their recipes with my readers, since I know that many fitness enthusiasts like to go low carb from time to time and are in need of tasty low carb recipes. As former bikini competitors, Mary and Alex know a thing or two about the “competition prep” diet but are now focused on overall health, longevity, and keeping their bikini bods year round through carb cycling. Give this recipe a try!
RECIPE: The Reuben Quiche (Low Carb, Gluten-free, Paleo-friendly)
A smorgasbord of goodness
Quiches are one of our favorite make-ahead meals. Not only are they easy to throw together, but you can add just about anything into them, making a smorgasbord of goodness. You can make them with any random fixings you might have leftover in your fridge (ham from Easter or turkey from Thanksgiving!), or if you’re fancy, you can combine the perfect concoction of ingredients to mimic some of your favorite dishes. Which is exactly what we did here with this dangerously good Reuben Quiche.
What’s in our Reuben?
Traditional Reuben sandwiches are made with corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut and Russian dressing, served on rye bread. Ever wondered where the Reuben Sandwich came from? You can read about its creation here. We love stories like these!
Pastrami
Pastrami can be used instead of corned beef (or flank steak), so if you have a preference for one of the other, just go with your instincts and follow your taste buds. We chose Trader Joe’s pastrami simply because it was calling to us while perusing the isles. It’s uncured and has no nitrates added, which is great for those who are sensitive to additives.
Sauerkraut
The addition of sauerkraut was an obvious must for its added health benefits and tummy friendly bacteria. And since we usually have a container of Trader Joe’s raw and fermented sauerkraut with pickles in our fridge, it seemed too perfect not to use. We used the pickles from that combination because, well, they were already together so it made our job just a little easier. But if you can’t find that brand feel free to use the sauerkraut and pickles of your choosing.
Swiss Cheese
Not that we’re promoting Trader Joe’s or anything…but they also have this Swiss cheese and Gruyère shredded cheese mix that was a delicious addition, which is just an option if you’re a cheese fan.
Quiche vs. Frittata – It’s all in the crust
If you’ve ever had an amazing quiche before you know it all starts with the perfect crust. The crust is what makes a quiche and quiche and NOT a frittata, so it’s essential that the crust is tasty. Luckily, we mastered our version of a low-carb, gluten-free crust with our Basic Coconut Flour Crust, which is also one of our fan favorites! We spiced it up by adding in Caraway seeds to mimic the classic use of rye bread and oh boy did it work! Caraway seeds have a slew of health benefits, including their potential to reduce the concentration of LDL cholesterol.
It’s not going to be pretty…
The crust itself can be a little tricky to mold into your pie tin if you’ve never cooked with coconut flour before. Due to the lack of gluten in this flour substitute it lacks the stretchiness and give that traditional flour has, making it slightly more challenging. Luckily, this flour is also very forgiving, so if during the molding process you find it’s “falling apart”, simple dampen your fingertips and push it back together. We suggest pressing the dough fairly thin at the bottom of the tin to ensure you have enough dough to create a “lip” at the top so all your tasty ingredients don’t pour over! We also offer a few tips and tricks for making the perfect crust here, one of which is making a crust shield to prevent your crust from over cooking!
Go Crustless!
If for some reason the thought of the baking this easy crust seems overwhelming you can simply skip that step and make yourself a crustless quiche aka a casserole or egg muffins…which we promise is just as delicious! We’ve shared two sets of macronutrients below for those of you who’d like to try one or the other, or both!
Either you go we think you’ll find this recipe an easy, delicious dish to make tonight or as a make-ahead meal prepping go-to!
Reuben Quiche
Serves 6
Ingredients
CRUST
- 1 Basic Coconut Flour Crust – Precooked and cooled
* Optional additions to the crust dough
- 1 tbsp Caraway Seeds
- 1 tsp Stevia Powder
QUICHE FILLING
- 1/2 tbsp Butter or Ghee
- 1/3 Yellow Onion – chopped
- 1/2 cup Sauerkraut – chopped (packed into measuring cup with all juices squeezed out)
- 2 tbsp Dill Pickle – minced
- 4 Eggs
- 1 cup Full-fat Coconut Milk
- 1 tbsp Dijon Mustard
- 1 tsp Lemon Juice
- 1/2 tsp Paprika add more if desired
- 1/8 tsp Black Pepper
- 1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 8 ounces Deli Pastrami
- 1/2 cup Swiss or Gruyere cheese (* Paleo-friendly – omit cheese)
Instructions
- Preheat oven 375° F.
- Heat a saucepan over medium-high heat.
- Add 1/2 tablespoon butter and swirl to coat.
- Add onions and sauté 2-3 minutes; remove from heat.
- In a large mixing bowl add onions, sauerkraut, and dill pickles; mix to combine and set aside.
- In another bowl, whisk 4 eggs.
- Add coconut milk, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, paprika, black pepper, Worcestershire sauce and mix well.
- Layer pastrami at the bottom of the premade crust. Save a few slices to add on top if desired.
- Layer the onion mixture on top of pastrami.
- Pour egg mixture over onions and pastrami.
- Top with cheese and leftover pastrami.
- Place pie pan in oven and cook for 30-40 minutes or until a knife inserted in middle comes out clean.
Recipe Notes
Nutritional Data for Ultra Low Carb Reuben Quiche with Crust
Click here for “Understanding our Macronutrient Guide”
Nutritional Data for Quiche without Crust
Click here for “Understanding our Macronutrient Guide”
AUTHOR BIOS
Alex Navarro is a nationally-renowned personal trainer, fitness competitor, and nutrition programmer. She has helped hundreds of clients reach their fitness goals through a combination of workout programming, nutritional planning, and food science education.
Alex is a WBFF Pro Bikini Diva and a former Ms. Natural Fitness Olympia. She has been active in the fitness competition scene since 2007.
Mary J. Gines has a BFA in digital media and a Master’s Cert. in Online Marketing. As a former national-level NPC bikini competitor and professional model, her combination of creativity and technical expertise and understanding of fit living made her the perfect choice to collaborate on this project.
Mary brings her creativity and “recipe investigatory” skills to the cutting board with her knack for researching menus of the local restaurants for ideas and “how can we make it different?” mentality.
You can find more information and recipes about Fit Living Foodies on FitLivingFoodies.com.
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