Aug 18, 2016

Cheesy Quinoa Bake

Delicious quinoa, cheese and vegetable bake.

I've been making my way through some recipes I've found on Pinterest. I was attracted to this one called 'Cheesy Quinoa Mac and Cheese' because who doesn't love macaroni and cheese? And quinoa in anything makes it healthy, right? ;)

The original recipe had some comments saying it wasn't quite as cheesy or creamy as traditional macaroni and cheese, so a more appropriate name is Cheesy Baked Quinoa. Regardless of what it is called, it tastes good. As an added bonus the recipe is flexible so you can use up whatever vegetables you have on hand. Ingredient links are affiliate links.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup quinoa, cooked according to package directions
2 cups sauteed vegetables (we used broccoli)
2 cloves minced garlic
2 large eggs
1 pinch of salt
1 cup of milk
2 cups grated cheddar cheese (reserve 1/2 cup for top)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
Panko or regular bread crumbs for topping
Any other ingredients you think would be tasty or need to be used!

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Sautee any vegetables you would like to use.
3. Mix eggs, milk, garlic, and salt in large bowl.
4. Fold in quinoa and vegetables and any other additives.
5. Place in greased 9" x13" pan. Top with remaining cheddar cheese and bread crumbs.
6. Cook until top is golden brown and cheese has melted, approximately 3 minutes.
7. Enjoy!

When we made it we only used 1 cup of frozen broccoli that we sauteed with seasoning salt. I wish we had added more so I increased it in the recipe above. Some other options for vegetables to use are bell pepper, spinach, zucchini, really anything!

Others really liked the 'crunch' of the panko bread crumbs, but I couldn't really notice them so I would be very liberal with it. I had only lightly covered the top of the dish with panko. Finally, we also had some tricolor couscous to use up so we replaced 1/2 cup of quinoa with the couscous. This doesn't change the flavor it was just something that I had to use up.

This was pretty good and I would make it again. Looking for another delicious recipe? Check out Hubby's Famous Fish Tacos.

Pin for later:
Shared on Waste Less WednesdaysHome Matters

8 comments:

  1. Oh this looks simple enough to try! Thank you for posting. I have some extra zucchini currently lying around so I hope that will work for the recipe, I'll have to let you know how it goes!

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    1. Please do! I bet it will work great with zucchini.

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  2. I have yet to try quinoa, is it similar to rice? Maybe this recipe will be my first time trying it :-)

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    1. It is a grain, but has more protein than your typical grain. Have you had couscous? It's probably slightly more similar to that than rice.

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  3. This seems like a tasty way to eat quinoa. I haven't tried it with cheese yet. Thank you for sharing your recipe at this week's #HomeMattersParty

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  4. I struggle with Quinoa. This recipe looks tasty, but I wish I could fall in love with the texture of it. I have a huge Costco bag of Quinoa because I had NOBLE intentions. ;)

    Thanks for linking up at #SustainableSundays!

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  5. This looks and sounds great! I'm definitely going to be trying this #WasteLessWednesday

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