6 asparagus spears

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 cups shredded cooked potatoes (frozen hash brown potatoes, partially thawed, may also be used)

1 cup grated cheese

¾ cup cooked meat, chopped (ham, chicken, sausage or hamburger)

¼ cup chopped onion

3 eggs

1 cup rich milk (half & half cream works well)

½ teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon parsley flakes, optional

Wash asparagus spears and trim ends. Place spears in a shallow pan with a small amount of water (at least enough to cover bottom of pan) and bring water to boil over high heat. Cover pan, reduce heat to medium-low and steam asparagus for several minutes or until tender-crisp. Remove from heat and set aside. Meanwhile, stir together oil and potatoes in a 9” pie pan or 8 x 8” casserole dish. Spread potatoes into pie crust shape or up the sides of the casserole. Layer on the cheese, meat and onion. Drain asparagus spears and cut into one-inch pieces; sprinkle over the onion layer. In a bowl, mix together eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Pour over other ingredients. Sprinkle with parsley flakes, if desired. Bake at 400* about 30 minutes or until lightly browned and knife inserted 1” from edge comes out clean. (You may wish to cover the quiche with a piece of foil for the first half of the baking time to keep the asparagus from turning too brown.) Cool 5 minutes before cutting.

Note: I like to shred left-over baked potatoes to use in this recipe. I also sometimes add a layer of chopped frozen spinach on top of the onion, instead of the asparagus. Since my family pronounced this type of quiche “good”, I use it as the easiest way to get spinach vitamins into them!

Submitted by Danette Martin