Breath easier with this cheesy, creamy, light & flaky, broccoli “cheese” quiche! Read the research below to learn the science behind it, or just jump to the recipe!
Full of healthy protein without soy or gluten: vegan, WFPBnO, healthy whole food ingredients, backed up by the latest medical and scientific health data research.
Table of Contents
Recipe Overview
| 🔪 The Recipe: | No-Bake Quiche for Lung Disese 🥘 |
| ⏲️ Estimated Time: | about 25-30 minutes from scratch to plate. |
| 💵 Cost to make: | $2.00 USD / $2.75 CDN |
| 🕹️ Difficulty: | Medium |

As usual with all the recipes:
no dairy, no eggs, no wheat, no nuts, no tree nuts, no shellfish, no seafood, no soy, no corn, no salt added, no oil added, no sugar added, no coconut.
Using only minimally processed or proven safe foods from scratch.
World Health Organization:
World Health Organization:
“Smoking and air pollution are the most common causes of COPD. People with COPD are at higher risk of other health problems.
COPD is not curable but symptoms can improve if one avoids smoking and exposure to air pollution and gets vaccines to prevent infections.”
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/chronic-obstructive-pulmonary-disease-(copd)
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Nutrition Facts Table
| Serving size: a quarter size slice of quiche |
| Nutrition Facts: 🔥322 Calories 🧈 11.9g Fat 🧂20.9mg Sodium 🌾 38.8g Carbs 🥬 12g Fiber 💪 21g Protein |
| nutrition summary: this meal provides a balanced profile ideal for maintaining muscle mass and supporting respiratory strength. It’s rich in protein, ensuring you get the nutrients needed for recovery and daily function. The fiber content promotes good digestion, while the carbohydrates offer sustained energy. Despite its richness, the meal is low in sodium, making it a heart-healthy option. The fat content is balanced to provide satiety without being excessive. |
Seasoning a stainless steel pan:
⭐The Full No-Bake Quiche Recipe⭐
No-Bake Quiche for Lung Disease 🥘
Equipment
- Skillet
- Fork
- Mixing Bowl
Ingredients
🥣 Ingredients – Makes 2 servings
🍲 Quiche Filling
- 2 cups cannellini/navy/butter/lima beans you could also use edamame or tofu if you’re not allergic
- 1 tbsp tahini or 2.5 tbsp almond butter or sunflower butter etc.
- 4 tbsp nutritional yeast
- ⅛ tsp mustard powder
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder
- 4 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 cup water
🥛Slurry to Thicken Filling:
- 4 tbsp arrowroot/potato/tapioca starch; or 2 tbsp cassava/corn/rice starch or 1 cup of very dry mashed potatoes or ½ cup blended oats—starch is best but it is fairly processed—arrowroot and cassava are the least processed starches here.
- 6 tbsp water
🥧 Quiche Pie Crust
- 1 cup oats
- 4 tbsp flax seeds
- 1 tbsp pumpkin seeds
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ⅛ tsp ginger powder
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 + tbsp warm water
Veggies
- Broccoli
- Red onion
- Mushrooms—put the mushrooms in the sun stem up, for about 2 hours, before cooking to increase their vitamin D levels dramatically!
why? - Mixed bell peppers
- Tomatoes or sundried tomatoes
- Green onions
- Or any other veggies you like
Instructions
🔪Directions
- Open and rinse your beans to remove any liquid.

- Put all of the Quiche Filling items in your pot on medium-low heat.

- Use a fork (or potato masher) to start mashing up the beans.

- When it starts thickening reduce the heat to a simmer. Starting to thicken already!

- Now put only the dry crust ingredients in the spice grinder and blend them up.

- Add your wet ingredients and start mixing your pie crust dough. (If the dough is too wet still then add a bit of ground flax seeds until it doesn’t stick to your hands.)

- Cover the dough for 3-5 minutes.

- If the garlic cloves in the filling are easily mushed against the side of the pot with the back of a fork/spoon: then it’s time to make the slurry!

- Mix your slurry, this is arrowroot, but use the thickener you prefer (or puree/add yams/potatoes, etc.). Keep stirring until the starch is fully dissolved (it’ll be hard to stir at first).

- Add your slurry to your Quiche Filling—try to keep the slurry on the surface while pouring, so it doesn’t clump up before you can stir it.

- Flatten out your dough—use a cutting board and hand-press it, or you could roll it out if you have a rolling pin—or a long smooth bottle, this is hand/palm pressed—then place it in your seasoned pan on medium-low heat.

- Cook for only about 3-7 minutes on low heat, then flip and cook for half as long on the other side. You should have a color similar to the picture below, so the dough is still playable yet flaky.

- If your dish is the right size it should be easy enough to put the Quiche Shell in the dish, with the darker side of the crust facing down, and press and form it with your fingers. If your dish is too small—like mine—you might have to break it up a bit and press it back together in the dish like I did here. (Having a round dish makes things easier for sure! But it’s 30 seconds otherwise.)

Cooking the Veggies
- Put your veggies in the pan and sautee them (use a bit of white wine vinegar to deglaze if needed) then mix the veggies with your Quiche Filling

- Hint: you can place your Quiche dish in the empty pan to keep it warm

- Filling should be nice and thick and stick to a spoon when sideways or even upside down… if not cook longer or add more veggies or slurry.

- Fill your Pie crust with the Quich Filling:

- Let it cool for a minute or two to firm up a bit. That’s it! Enjoy!

Notes
Suggest Sides
- A serving of fruits and veggies. The below chart shows the black dots as regular COPD patients (getting sicker over time) but the white dots are patients who added a single extra serving of fruits and veggies per day.

🧂If you absolutely must add salt then try to add it to taste, and in small amounts, mostly to the ketchup or any dipping sauces you might use after tasting it. The same goes for other “less healthy” additions, but the idea should be to try to limit and eventually remove adding them, over time, when you are ready.
After a few weeks of not eating a SAD diet your tastebuds reset and you’ll notice the natural sodium in foods, check out the great article, and subscribe to, Michael Corthell on Substack.
The Science – Sources
| 🧪 This section tells you all about the ingredients’ scientific effects, from the latest medical research, and cites sources so you can investigate further. |
| Healthy Plant-Based Foods Specific studies on specific ingredients being tested for Chronic Respiratory Diseases are still limited or in progress at this time, although there are quite a few studies on COPD and eating more fruit and veggies and less processed foods. One such study states: ”besides the possible impact of diet quality on COPD risk, these findings provide further evidence for including a healthful plant-based diet on the road map to optimal lung health.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9921620/ |
| Apple Cider Vinegar The magic of vinegar. Since most COPD diseases are due to inflammation (in the lungs and airways) we can use the anti-inflammatory properties of ACV! https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38040916/ |
| Arrowroot/Tapioca/Potato Starch Resistant starch intake reduces inflammation and shows beneficial effects in Asthma, Cystic fibrosis, COPD. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6156521/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9809969/ |
| Bell Peppers Fairly high in vitamin A & K and a cross-sectional study noted that, “while we observed an inverse association between vegetables intake and lung disease as previously reported, for the first time we show an inverse association between vitamin K intake and vitamin A intake with emphysema.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7192023/ |
| Broccoli Sulforaphane in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables like kale, brussels sprouts, mustard seeds, etc. “Our study has demonstrated that [sulforaphane] inhibited the production of cytokines via the TLRs pathway in MDMs from patients with COPD.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8091816/ So, essentially broccoli helped to suppress the symptoms and side-effects of COPD. This other study on asthma is titled: “Sulforaphane improves the bronchoprotective response in asthmatics through Nrf2-mediated gene pathways.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4570035/ |
| Cannellini Beans Quercetin is a flavonoid in fruits and vegetables including beans. A study from 2015 showed the impact that quercetin, resveratrol, and epicatechin have on Cystic Fibrosis and concluded that they have protective properties. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9860597/ |
| Flax & Pumpkin Seeds “Patients with asthma and allergic rhinitis may benefit from hydration and a diet low in sodium, omega-6 fatty acids, and transfatty acids, but high in omega-3 fatty acids (i.e., fish, almonds, walnuts, pumpkin, and flax seeds), onions, and fruits and vegetables (at least five servings a day).” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12391710/ |
| Garlic Garlic can even help smokers! “Dietary supplementation of garlic, which might be by increasing [nitris oxide] activity, has significantly improved pulmonary functions in smokers.“ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5535343/ |
| Ginger This study states that the “results suggest that distinct ginger compounds could be used as [anti-inflammatory] drugs in respiratory infections.” As they are looking to isolate the compounds in ginger and sell them as an anti-inflamitory drug, for lots of money… you can save the money and just eat ginger! https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21698672/ |
| Green (Spring) Onions “[Green onion] plays a great role in reducing different types of lung disorders [182]. Several experiments have been done by researchers showing the effects of A. cepa regarding this subject.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8789449/ |
| Lemon Juice “Maintains pulmonary health, prevents arthritis and inflammation; improves immune response.” Even arthritis as a bonus! https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9862941/ |
| Mushrooms (Button/Stuffing) Ergothioneine, found mainly in mushrooms, has properties that seem to help fight COPD, although more tests need to be done. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7653990/ |
| Mustard Powder This study mentions cruciferous vegetables (which mustard seed is, like broccoli or kale) and concludes by saying, “…this study demonstrated that high vegetable intake, without any specific intervention, can identify COPD patients with a higher probability to respond successfully to rehabilitation.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8398833/ |
| Nutritional Yeast This study on mice (who smoke heavily & eat a lot of eggs—sounds like short-order cooks I’ve worked with!) seems to be all there is, currently, about nutritional yeast vs COPD and it states that “This study investigated that [yeast extracts] inhibited allergic airway inflammation evoked by [cigarette smoke and egg whites] in mouse airways.” As an animal study we’ll ignore it, but look at my other recipes for the benefits of nutritional yeast. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6769699/ |
| Oats “Dietary fiber derived from vegetables, fruits, barley, oats and other plant foods can reduce airway inflammation in patients by down-regulating the expression of G-protein-coupled receptors 41 and 43(GPR41 and GPR43) (as indicated by FeNO and neutrophils in sputum).” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10997578/ |
| Red Onion “The current review article therefore indicates possible bronchodilatory and preventive effects of onion and Qt on asthma and other obstructive respiratory diseases. The effects of the plant and its constituents on lung cancer, lung infections, and allergic disorders were also reported both in experimental and clinical studies.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8452398 |
| Tahini Paste: Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any human trials for COPD on humans. But, there are positive-looking studies with titles such as: “[Sesame] Alleviates Airway Hyperresponsiveness and Oxidative Stress in Asthmatic Mice,”—poor little guys with their tiny inhalers—and “Sesame Oil Attenuates Ovalbumin-Induced Pulmonary Edema and Bronchial Neutrophilic Inflammation in Mice,” but mice and rats ARE NOT people. So you’ll just have to add it for all the other benefits (see any of my other healthy recipes for the benefits) because, until there are human trials there is NOT any substantial evidence for any effectiveness of tahini against COPD, at this time. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4320875/#:~:text=Mushrooms%20act%20as%20antibacterial%2C%20immune,are%20found%20as%20dietary%20supplements. |
| Tomatoes “Our results suggest that a higher intake of leafy vegetables, carrots, and tomatoes may have a beneficial effect against adult asthma.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1974844/ |
| Turmeric: This aptly titled study “Highly absorptive [curcumin/turmeric] reduces serum atherosclerotic low-density lipoprotein levels in patients with mild COPD,” is very promising as well. https://www.dovepress.com/highly-absorptive-curcumin-reduces-serum-atherosclerotic-low-density-l-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-COPD |
Please tell me how it turned out! Did you: try it, like it, hate it, change it, or do something else unexpected???
If I’ve made any mistakes, or something doesn’t make sense, or if you want more/less details, please let me know in the comments.

