How did we survive without our quinoa? I just love this little seed, especially when I can change it up and make amazing sides like my quinoa with roasted vegetables, a healthy quinoa salad or quinoa cakes with broccoli, onions and feta.
A few facts about quinoa:
- Quinoa is pronounced “keenwah”
- Quinoa is not a grain or cereal it is a seed
- Quinoa is one of only a few plant foods that are considered a complete protein, containing all nine essential amino acids
- Quinoa is gluten free
- Quinoa is versatile and can be paired up with almost any vegetable
Now you understand why so many people love this little seed? If you can not find quinoa, you can use brown rice, wild rice or even regular rice but I will share, it is worth trying.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees, prepare baking pan using parchment paper and spraying with oil. Cook quinoa according to package directions (usually 1 cup of rinsed quinoa to 2 cups of water or broth). Once cooked place in a large bowl.
Chop onions and saute in a pan for 2-4 minutes
Add riced broccoli or chopped broccoli and cook until onions are tender, place in large bowl, to cool down
chop fresh herbs
To the cooked quinoa and vegetables, add eggs, cilantro, basil, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Add eggs to the mixture.
Using a 1/3 measuring cup or ice cream scoop, scoop mixture and lightly pat quinoa cakes into a mini cake.
YUM!
and here they are stacked
I also made these into little bite sized “bites” that can be used for appetizers…ingenious, I know right? lol
So here you have a great quinoa cake that can be served as a side dish, the main meal (if you are a vegetarian and want to serve it with a small salad), or even served with eggs in the morning. You can also make this into little bite-sized bites and act as a gluten-free appetizer. The feta cheese is the perfect balance for these cakes but as a reminder, feta can be salty, so feel free to taste the mixture before adding your eggs.
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Thank you again ~ Patty Limatola-Tanenbaum
Ingredients
- 1 cup Quinoa, uncooked
- 1 teaspoon Oil
- 1 bag Broccoli, riced (or 1 pound chopped fine)
- 1 medium Onion, chopped
- 1 handful Cilantro, fresh and chopped
- 1 handful Basil, fresh and chopped
- 3 large Eggs
- 4 ounces Feta, crumbled
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
- 1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- Salt and Pepper, to taste
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees, prepare baking pan using parchment paper and spraying with oil.
- Cook quinoa according to package directions (usually 1 cup of rinsed quinoa to 2 cups of water or broth). Once cooked place in a large bowl.
- In a large skillet, heat oil, add onion and cook for 2-4 minutes over medium heat, add broccoli and cook until onions are tender. Add cooked vegetables to the quinoa and let it cool down.
- To the cooked quinoa and vegetables, add eggs, cilantro, basil, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Add eggs to the mixture.
- Using a 1/3 measuring cup or ice cream scoop, scoop mixture and lightly pat quinoa cakes into a mini cake.
- Place in oven, bake for 8-10 minutes, flip the quinoa cake and cook for 8-10 more minutes. Remove from oven and enjoy.