Garden Veggie Quiche

Ingredients

• 1 frozen pie shell (9 inches)
• 1 small red onion, sliced
• 1/2 cup sliced fresh bell peppers
• 1/4 cup diced yellow summer squash
•  1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup fresh baby spinach
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded smoked Swiss cheese
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1-2/3 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
• 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh chive
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

1. Let pastry shell stand at room temperature for 10 minutes. Line unpricked pastry shell with a double thickness of heavy-duty foil. Bake at 400° for 4 minutes. Remove foil; bake 4 minutes longer. Cool on a wire rack. Reduce heat to 350°.
2. In a large skillet, saute the onion, mushrooms and squash in butter until tender. Add spinach and garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Spoon into crust; top with cheese.
3. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, cream, salt, rosemary, thyme, chives and pepper until blended; pour over cheese.
4. Cover edges of crust loosely with foil. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting. 

Yield: 6-8 servings.

The Secret Garden

Finding extra space for growth and new structural additions can be a challenge at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. Sometimes that darn mountain gets in the way! The CMZoo’s culinary team took this particular challenge on and designed a unique enhancement to their cooking operation. Without leaving the foot print of the Grizzly Grill, a rooftop garden was created. Through partnerships with Pikes Peak Urban Garden, Ace Hardware, Soil Menders, and Smart Pot Tree Bags, the garden has really made a big impact. Items growing in the garden range from beans, to squash, to lettuce, to fresh herbs, and edible flowers. The staff will be using as much of this produce as possible in the zoo’s restaurants. Garden salads, garden pizzas, and various specials that incorporate the sustainable produce will be featured at the Grill.

Much of this produce can be grown at home and the chefs are happy to answer any questions you may have. Expect the produce to start showing up around the zoo in the middle of June.

Look for recipes from the Chefs coming soon.

If you won't eat it, we won't feed it!

Name: Jamie Breitigan

Hometown: Anaheim, CA – This is where I spent most of my childhood and young adulthood.

Favorite Zoo Animal: I’m in awe of all the animals here at the zoo. The ones who make me laugh the most though are the grizzlies.

Worked at CMZ since: July, 2006

Job Description: Commissary Manager – I take care of ordering, preparing, delivering, and rotating all animal food and fulfilling all animal department supply orders here at the zoo. Plus all other duties as assigned.

What’s your favorite part of Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (CMZ)? I like the family feeling of the zoo and knowing we are a part of something bigger than us.

Why is your job important? I believe all of the jobs here are equally important. Mine is just one piece of the puzzle.  Of course I never want to run of food or they may decide to feed me to the animals.

Do you have any advice for people who are visiting the CMZ for the first time? Try to explore all parts of the zoo: the animals, the landscaping, the view, and all of the shows.

Do you have any Funny/Good Stories? I get here pretty early (5:30am) in the morning and sometimes it’s very dark, especially outside of the Commissary. One morning as I was getting out of the Commissary truck, I saw a wild mountain lion run in front of the truck’s headlights. I jumped right back in the truck and waited until she/he was gone and went on with my work. Very cool, right? Well, fast forward a year or so. Before I walk out of the Commissary to get to the truck I pull out my flashlight so I can see if there’s anything like a mountain lion outside of the building. I turned the corner and flashed up by the truck and all of a sudden I saw two shiny eyes looking back at me. I won’t tell you what I actually said… But you can bet I was high tailing it back inside. Well, I don’t like to be behind in my work schedule so I decided “I’m going to scare whatever this is away!” I went and cautiously flashed my lights up at it again ready to go blow for blow with whatever animal it was and low and behold it was a very innocent deer. Are you serious, a deer? Well I felt pretty foolish, but still alive and on time. 

Click here for Commissary video preview!