Eating Wild: Salmon quiche with sweet potato crust

To add a little spice to my life, I’m spending the month of October adhering to The Whole 30 diet, an eating regimen that requires the elimination of all grains, legumes, sugar, alcohol and dairy. The idea being that you reset your system by removing all the foods that folks sometimes have trouble with, and then slowly add them back into your diet at the end of 30 days and pay attention to how your body responds to different foods. For me, it translates into a way to be more thoughtful about what I eat, get away from buying those random snacks (I’m looking at you Rookery cookies and Breeze In donuts) and break out of some of my usual cooking habits.

I’m always looking for new ways to use salmon, especially that squirrely leftover salmon that’s been in the fridge a little too long. One of my favorite go-tos is a sweet potato salmon chowder, and it occurred to me that I could easily translate that recipe into a delicious Whole 30 compliant breakfast quiche if I used sweet potato as a crust.

Whether you’re interested in food programs like Whole 30 or not, this recipe is a winner and one that I’ll be cooking year-round. The sweet potato and coconut stand up well to the strong flavor of salmon, and with red peppers and sauteed greens, not only is this breakfast salmon dish delicious and healthy, it’s also full of cheerful bright colors! And who doesn’t need a colorful breakfast this time of year?

Salmon Quiche with Sweet Potato Crust

Prep: 25 minutes active, 75 minutes total

Serves: 9

• 1 to 1 ½ sweet potatoes, thinly sliced

• Olive oil

• 1 Tbsp ghee or avocado oil

• ½ medium yellow onion, diced

• 1 medium red bell pepper, diced

• 2 handfuls spinach, baby kale, or both

• 10 oz cooked wild salmon, bones removed and flaked

• 5 eggs

• 1 can full fat unsweetened coconut milk

• ½ tsp salt

• ¼ tsp red pepper flakes

Crust

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Peel sweet potatoes and slice them in rounds, as thin as you can manage. Oil the bottom and sides of a 13 inch by 9 inch pan. Line the pan with the sweet potato by layering and overlapping the rounds, first along the sides and then along the bottom, two or three slices thick. Brush with olive oil. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the crust from the oven and set aside. Turn the oven up to 400 degrees.

Filling

Heat ghee or avocado oil over medium heat in a skillet, sauté onion until clear, about seven minutes. Add in red bell pepper, cook for two or three minutes. Add in two handfuls of greens, toss, cover and sauté until just wilted, about two or three minutes. Flake in cooked salmon, toss and set aside.

Combine eggs, coconut milk, salt and red pepper flakes in a bowl and whisk until smooth. Pour the vegetables and salmon into the egg and coconut milk mixture. Mix until well combined. Carefully pour the filling into sweet potato crust, pushing back any slumping or fallen sweet potato slices.

Bake until eggs are puffy and fully set in the center and the quiche is lightly browned, 35-45 minutes. Remove from the oven and let stand for five minutes before serving.

Serve with hot sauce and green onions.

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• Erin Anais Heist is a food blogger in Juneau. Readers can contact her at foodabe.com, or on Instagram or Twitter at @erinanais. “Eating Wild” recipes publish every other week.

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