February 12, 2013

Recipe: Quinoa Mac & Cheese

Sunday, after spending the day running long, cleaning dog hair off of every surface of my house (it never goes away) and realizing that I was running low on groceries, I decided to try a recipe that I had tried once before (but didn't quite work) and make it better. Take two of my pantry staples: quinoa and cheddar cheese, and you've got a fantastic combination!

I basically looked up 17 different recipes on Pinterest and combined them all into my own sort of amalgamation based on the ingredients in my pantry and what I actually like, so I bring you:

Quinoa Mac & Cheese with Roasted Tomatoes and Broccoli

Ingredients
1 cup quinoa
2 eggs
1 cup milk (I used soy, but you can use regular just the same)
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese (or any kind of cheese you like, as long as it melts!)
2 vine tomatoes
1 1/2 cups broccoli (or vegetable of your choosing)
1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp olive oil
1/8 tsp dried oregano
1/8 tsp dried basil
Pinch sea salt & black pepper
Crushed red pepper (optional)
Breadcrumbs (optional)

For the Roasted Tomatoes
*So I actually made these 2 nights before for another meal and forgot to put them in said meal so I recycled them in a way. Also, the recipe called for plum tomatoes but I bought the wrong kind*

Clearly, I am a chef in the making.

-Preheat oven to 400
-In a bowl, mix yellow onion, sugar, olive oil, oregano, basil, salt and pepper. Add halved tomatoes, making sure to coat evenly.


-Coat a cooking sheet with olive oil, vegetable oil or Pam (whatever you like, I used Pam)
-Arrange tomatoes on sheet, cut side up ad roast for 20 minutes
-When they finish cooking, cut them into quarters (or bite-sized pieces)


For the Quinoa
-Cook quinoa according to package directions (if your package doesn't recommend that you rinse the quinoa first, you should. Read why here)
-Cook your vegetables (I boiled the broccoli)
-Whisk 1 cup milk with 2 eggs in a large bowl
-When the quinoa has finished cooking, add it to the milk/egg mixture


-Add the cheese and stir, allowing some of the cheese to melt
-In a baking dish coated with cooking spray (I used 8x8), add the roasted tomatoes and broccoli and pour the quinoa & cheese mixture over it.
-Sprinkle with crushed red pepper (if you want) and evenly pour bread crumbs on top
-Bake for 20-30 minutes
-Serve and eat!

Sorry, not the greatest picture but it's really tasty!
*Notes: Cooking/prep time is approximately 40 minutes.

Have you ever made quinoa mac and cheese? Think you'll try it out? If you do, let me know and I'll be sure to post some of your variations!

Happy Cooking!


3 comments:

  1. Thanks for posting this so quickly! I can't wait to try it!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mmm, looks good. I know what you mean about the dog hair, by the way. I de-linted my shirt and sweater this morning, and even though I haven't even been near my dogs, it's already back.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This sounds really good! Pretty sure I'd love this variation...especially since I can convince myself it's healthier :)

    ReplyDelete

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