Beauty Chew

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One way to invest in relationships, be it with your family, friends or partner, is by cooking with them.

Cooking together teaches you loads about people: Are they a neat freak or a mess maker? Do they measure or go splash for splash? Do they drink while they cook (a glass of wine, people...)? Do they have fun testing out new things or prefer a tried-and-true course? Do they embrace the passion of cooking or are they more comfortable following a neatly defined recipe? Either way, the fact that they’re cooking at all is a great thing!

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Whether you’re inclined to try different foods with your loved one or not, the most important thing is to do just that: Try everything, play, experiment! This is what helps you develop recipes that both of you fall in love with time and time again. (And maybe fall in love even more with each other!) For my husband John and I, that recipe is quiche.

As we celebrate our second anniversary at the end of August, one of our favorite traditions we've developed involves our Sunday morning spreads—we make a huge brunch together. We love to do things like simple bagel sandwiches with lox, tomato, cream cheese and capers, mixed green salads with Raddichio and shaved parmesan, slices of melon and mozzarella, berries with yogurt and homemade granola...but our all-time favorite, easy, indulgent brunch is homemade quiche.

I (sometimes) make my own dough for the crust, but you could just as easily use store-bought frozen pie crust, score it a few times at the bottom and par-bake, then pour in your homemade filling—the fact that it's customizable is hugely important! Relationships are all about compromise and listening to the other person's wants and figuring out where they meet your own (case in point, my original version of this quiche had mushrooms, which I love, but John's not a fan, so I swapped in zucchini). Bake it up, and voila! Love at first bite.

Zucchini, Leek & Feta Quiche

• 1 frozen deep-dish 9” pie crust (thawed)*
• 2 medium zucchini, washed and cut into 1/4" rounds
• 2 leeks, cleaned & sliced into thin half-moons
• 6 ounces feta cheese, French or Greek
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 large eggs
• 1 cup milk, 2% or whole
• 1 tablespoon fresh picked mint, sliced thin or torn
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup grated pecorino or Parmesan

*Super easy all-butter pastry crust from scratch:

• 1 cup + 2 tablespoons flour
• 1/3 cup butter, chilled and cut into ½” pieces
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 3-4 tablespoons milk

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In a large bowl, sift together your flour and salt. Use a pastry cutter or two knives to cut in your butter, dispersing it into the flour and salt until only pea-sized or smaller butter pieces remain. You want to touch the dough with your hands as little as possible and try to keep the butter chilled throughout.

Once your dry mix and butter is about sand consistency, start adding in your milk a tablespoon at a time just until you can pinch a piece of dough between your fingers and it sticks together. At this point, gently use your hands to gather dough into a ball, wrap tightly in saran wrap and chill for 20 minutes.