The benefit of the COVID lock-downs (one of the few) is that I get more time for cooking. The downside (one of the many) is that there’s no one to share all that food with.  For me,  one of the greatest pleasures of cooking is indulging your friends and loved ones with your latest successful creations.  This also means sometimes punishing them with the experimentations in between, but it’s all in good fun and the combination of good company and good food is one of the timeless pleasures and comforts of life. 

With the absence of potlucks and other such food-centric gatherings, appetizers have been excluded from my repertoire.  They are such a social type of dish that it seemed hardly worth it to try and come up with anything new.  But my potluck yearning has prompted me to venture back into this bite sized, pre-meal realm, in preparation for a return to social eating.  Yes, these mini-quiches are the perfect size and sustenance level to serve as an appetizer but after you’ve eaten a few it pretty much becomes a meal.  I actually ate two or three of them for breakfast and they gave me a good charge for the morning and filled me up until lunch!

Ingredients:
For the Quiche 
2 x 500g packages of silken/soft tofu
1 cup of chopped tomatoes (I used grape tomatoes)
1 cup of plant based milk
2 tsp of kala namak salt
1/4 cup of nutritional yeast
1 tbsp of mustard
2 tbsp of soy sauce
2 tsp of turmeric
1 tbsp of garlic powder
1 227g bag of cheddar style shreds (I used Daiya)
1/2 cup of flour
170g package of vegan Bacon, chopped

For Kale Guacamole
3 avocados
2 tsp of salt
1/4 cup of lime juice
2 tsp of cilantro
1/2 cup of chopped kale

Directions:
For the Tofu Quiche
1.  Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees
2.  In a blender or food processor, add the 2 x 500g packages of silken tofu, 1 cup of plant-based milk, 1 cup of chopped tomatoes, 2 tsp of kala namak salt, 1/4 cup of nutritional yeast, 1 tbsp of mustard, 2 tbsp of soy sauce, 2 tsp of turmeric, 1 tbsp of garlic powder.  Pulse until smooth.
3.  Transfer the blended mixture to a mixing bowl.  Add in the flour and stir to blend it in.  Add the cheddar shreds, and chopped vegan bacon.
4.  Pour the batter evenly in a muffin tray – you may need two.
5.  Cook for thirty minutes at 350 degrees.

For the Kale Guacamole
1.  Slice and Pit the Avocados.  Scoop the flesh into a bowl and mash with a fork or a potato masher.  2.  Add in the 2 tsp of salt, 1/4 cup of lime juice, and 2 tsp of cilantro.  Mix it all together and then gradually fold in the chopped kale.