A big slice of quiche stands alone, but salad still helps

Priya Desai ate a warm slice of quiche with a little green salad in sharp vinaigrette and a coffee before returning behind the counter. Desai, the owner of Ember & Bean, said the greens kept the filling lunch from feeling too heavy.

How much belongs beside a slice of quiche? All four people who spoke with Bonzai said a substantial slice could make lunch on its own. The three who recalled quiche lunches had also eaten salad with their slices — not necessarily because the quiche was too small.

Denise Baptiste, a customer-service representative at Elm Cart, last ate a thick slice with cucumber and tomato salad. The eggs and cheese filled her up, she said, while the vegetables kept the meal from feeling too heavy. “I’d have eaten it on its own, but the salad made it feel like a proper lunch.” Walt Brennan, co-founder and brewer at Kettle Yard Brewing, has also eaten quiche with a small green salad. For Brennan, the quiche, not the few leaves, made that lunch filling.

What counts as enough varies by slice and by day. Desai said a thick quarter of a nine-inch quiche, with plenty of egg, cheese and vegetables rather than mostly crust, can carry them through an afternoon of paperwork. They want the salad when they are on their feet behind the counter. Brennan said a decent-sized slice can get them through lunch alone, and Baptiste said a thick slice with plenty of egg and cheese is enough when she is home taking calls. Noah Bennett, a junior accountant new to making their own lunches, thinks a slice filling most of a dinner plate would probably be enough, though they could not recall a recent quiche lunch.

A narrow slice changes the calculation for Bennett, Brennan and Baptiste. Bennett thinks they would add salad to make it feel more like a full lunch, or fruit for a quick side. Baptiste said a thin slice leaves her looking for a snack by 3 p.m. Brennan has eaten quiche alone, but said a skinny wedge leaves them hungry again by 3; next time, they would add bread as well as salad. “The salad alone won’t do much for a skinny slice,” Brennan said.

For all four, a substantial slice can stand alone, even though the three who recall quiche lunches have eaten salad with theirs. For a smaller slice, three would want more food or expect to be hungry later.

Baptiste’s last quiche lunch held both possibilities on one plate: a thick slice she said she could have eaten alone, with cucumber and tomato alongside it.