miniature bacon and swiss quiche

I have used this quiche recipe for years, but we always seem to have way too much leftover.  My crew does not seem to like leftovers, so I end up throwing some away.  So, this time I decided to make smaller versions so that the 'left over' ones could be frozen for future use.  

Instead of using the usual 9-inch pie shell, I purchased Pillsbury Crescent Recipe Creations, flattened them out and cut into squares.  I then fit them into my large-sized muffin tins (6 to a tin) and pressed them around until it made a little shell.  I adjusted this recipe and poured the custard into the muffin shells and cooked them for about 20 minutes.  Surprisingly, they actually turned out pretty good.  So good that we only had two of them leftover!  Unfortunately, those two were eaten the next day so I did not get to test out how they did frozen.  I guess I will have to give it another try sometime soon.

blt pasta with orange-red onion salad

This was another recipe from my Cuisine at Home magazine.  This is the second recipe that has called for red pepper flakes and ended up being almost too hot to eat.  From now on, I am not putting any red pepper flakes in my recipes and will just wait until the end to season.  It was hard to even capture a taste of the bacon, tomato or spinach with all the heat from the red pepper-infused sauce.  Chef D ate it but did not really care for it.

The orange-red onion salad was a nice cool retreat from the heat of the pasta.  I really enjoyed the flavor of the dressing and even the onions (which I normally do not like on salads).  Chef D prefers a salad with a bit more crunch, so if I make the salad again I will include some iceberg lettuce with the mesclun/spring mix.