Leftovers lurk in the dark recesses of my refrigerator.  They are trying to weaken my resolve to use everything and let nothing go to waste.  Sometimes, it’s something that we didn’t really like that much.  Other times, it’s something that there just isn’t enough of to make a meal.  There are even times when it was such an unusual thing that it just doesn’t seem to go with anything else that’s lying around in the fridge.  Of course, there are those occasions where I totally misjudge the volume of food the recipe is going to make and we end up staring at the same thing over and over again until we just wish it would disappear.

Since the philosophy in our house is to use it up and not throw it out, I have to make it disappear in some way other than the trash can or garbage disposer.  The dogs are also considered an unacceptable receptacle for many of our leftovers.  They have their own food.

This is the story of shrimp succotash.  It seemed like a good idea.  It was chock full of delicious vegetables, a combination of fresh and frozen.  The night I made it, it was well received by my family when served with a side of rice.  They willingly ate it the next night.  I took two servings to work to share with my favorite co-worker, so I actually ate it twice that day.  It was okay.  I liked it, but after that night’s dinner, I knew I didn’t want to see it again in its current incarnation.

The next night, I stirred some of the drained shrimp succotash into a fried rice dish.  It was delicious, and the leftovers were served for lunch the next day.  Unfortunately, there was still quite a bit of the shrimp succotash left in the fridge.  We needed to use it up before it went bad, and I had been staring at it for 4 days already.  I poked around in the pantry and the freezer trying to figure out what I could do when I came across some frozen pie crusts.    Pie crust in hand, I shouted out my solution: “Quiche!”   I know what they say about real men not eating quiche, but Baker’s Man is a really good sport about these things.

I couldn’t find my standby quiche recipe, so I consulted the source of all knowledge–the internet.  I found several quiche recipes, opened them in different windows, and studied the ingredients.  I listed all ingredients from several of them side by side and picked out the common denominators, and considered the measurements.  Finally I was prepared.   I had a list of what I thought would be the makings of a delicious quiche.    Only one problem.  Most quiche recipes contain cream or half and half, and all I had was non-fat milk.  It didn’t matter.  I was confident, so I drained the succotash, broke some eggs, and whipped up a creation while in mad scientist mode.  the result was two quiches which were very well received.  No one even knew that it was made out of leftover shrimp succotash.  I simply called it Shrimp and Vegetable Quiche.

I do have a confession to make, though.  I poured the leftover broth from the succotash onto the dogs food.  It’s terrible, I know.  I just didn’t want to have to imagineer a use for the broth.  Please forgive my blatant waste of potable food.  Next time, I will more closely watch how many vegetables I am chopping when I make succotash.   We don’t need enough to feed the entire infantry.  After all, there are only 4 of us at home now.

The prepared quiches can be cooled, covered, and frozen to take out and eat at a later date, or they can be devoured immediately.  We ate one the first night and had leftovers for lunch the next day.  It was delicious.

Here’s the recipe.  I have eliminated the need to make succotash first in this version.  I hope you enjoy it.  Thanks for visiting my site.