Why it works: Canola oil and sesame work together. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 201 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Classic Vegetarian Quiche
Ingredients
Directions
Make the crust
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Grind oats to a coarse flour in a blender or food processor.
Place ground oats in a large bowl.
Stir in whole wheat flour, white flour, salt and baking powder.
Drizzle ¼ cup canola oil over flour mixture and mix lightly; add more oil as necessary until mixture looks like wet sand.
Drizzle lemon juice, honey or maple syrup and 2 teaspoons water over dough.
Mix lightly with a fork until dough forms a ball, adding more water if necessary.
Roll out dough between sheets of waxed paper.
Sprinkle sesame seeds evenly over bottom of a quiche or pie pan, then place dough in pan.
If using a pie pan, fold excess dough over to form an edge about ½ inch thick; try to keep edge even, smooth and slightly away from the edge of pan.
Prick sides and bottom of crust with a fork.
Bake for 20 minutes, remove from oven and reduce temperature to 350 degrees.
Make the filling
Heat 1 teaspoon water or oil in a skillet over medium heat.
Add onion and sauté for 3 to 5 minutes.
Add garlic and sauté for 30 seconds.
Add broccoli florets and 1 to 2 tablespoons water, then cover.
Steam until broccoli is bright green and slightly tender but not soft, about 2 minutes.
Drain vegetables if necessary; place in prebaked pie crust and spread evenly over bottom.
In a blender or food processor, whip tofu, mustard, basil or rosemary, nutmeg, salt, pepper and nutritional yeast.
Blend 1 to 2 minutes, until very smooth.
Pour tofu mixture over vegetables in pie crust.
Bake and serve
Place red pepper or black olives on top if desired.
Bake 40 minutes, until slightly puffy.
Allow to cool 5 to 10 minutes before slicing.
Variation: substitute 3 cups of any vegetable for the broccoli.
Try lightly steamed asparagus, sautéed mushrooms and leeks, or red pepper and zucchini.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 19 of 20 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 19 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Oat | 1/2 cup dry (40g) | 154 |
| Sesame | 1 tbsp (14g) | 120 |
| Olive Oil | 1 tbsp (14g) | 119 |
| Tofu | 100g firm | 76 |
| Honey | 1 tbsp (21g) | 64 |
| Broccoli | 1 cup chopped (156g) | 55 |
| Maple Syrup | 1 tbsp (20ml) | 52 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| Nutmeg | 1 tsp ground (2.2g) | 12 |
| Chili | 1 tsp (2.7g) | 8 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Garlic | 1 clove (3g) | 4 |
| Rosemary | 1 tsp dried (1.2g) | 4 |
| Olive | 1 large (4g) | 4 |
| Mustard | 1 tsp (5g) yellow | 3 |
| Basil | 5 leaves fresh (2.5g) | 1 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
-
Canola oil + sesametop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together201 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Sesame + olivetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,111 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Wheat + olivetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,100 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
-
Wheat + sesametop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together86 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Oats + wheattop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together473 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-octenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Rolled oats
- Coarsely ground, they give the crust a nutty, crumbly texture.
- Whole wheat flour
- Provides structure to the crust and a nutty flavour.
- Canola oil
- Fat coats the flour particles, keeping the crust tender and short.
- Silken tofu
- Blends into a smooth, creamy base that sets as it bakes.
- Nutritional yeast
- Adds a savoury, cheesy flavour to the filling.
The step that matters
Adding water to the crust dough. Add water gradually and mix only until the dough just holds together. Too much water or overworking develops gluten and makes the crust tough, while too little leaves it crumbly and hard to roll.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (oats, wheat, flour, canola oil, honey, sesame, olive):
- Avocadofits better
- Coconutfits better
- Blueberryfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against oats, wheat, flour, canola oil, honey, sesame, olive. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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