I've been eating gluten free for over a month now, so I'm always trying new recipes. The one I attempted Monday night was a Cheesy, Broccoli, Quinoa Casserole. It was absolutely delicious. I love Quinoa because you can use it in pretty much everything from casseroles, to salads, to desserts, and much more. This may be my new favorite way to eat it though. Recipe and details are below.
Ingredients: Broccoli, sharp cheddar cheese, Quinoa, onion, garlic, Parmesan cheese, paprika, salt and pepper. Preheat the the oven to 375 degrees.
First, rinse and strain 1.5 cups of Quinoa in a fine mesh strainer a couple times. Then, combine it with 3 cups of water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat and cook until all the water is soaked up (about 15 minutes).
Steam 2 cups of broccoli florets in the microwave (add about 2 tablespoons of water and cook on high for about 4 minutes), and saute 1/2 of a chopped up medium onion for a few minutes (I sauteed it in garlic olive oil - YUM). Also, crush 1-2 garlic cloves. Next, combine the broccoli, onion, crushed garlic, spices (a pinch of paprika, salt & pepper), 1 cup cheddar cheese, and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese in a bowl.
Add in the cooked Quinoa once it has completely soaked up all the water in the pan. Stir all those ingredients up well!
You'll need to use an 8X8 pan, and make sure you grease it with some type of cooking spray (Trader Joe's coconut oil spray is my favorite - plus so much healthier than any other types of oils).
Pack all the ingredients from the bowl into the 8X8 pan, and sprinkle some extra cheddar cheese over the top (I added in quite a bit more than the recipe called for - I have a small obsession with cheese). Stick it in the oven at 375 for 15-18 minutes.
That's it!
Enjoy.
Ingredient List:
- 1.5 cups Quinoa
- 1/2 medium onion
- 2 cups broccoli florets (chopped into bite sized pieces)
- 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, (I sprinkled an additional 1/4 cup cheddar cheese over casserole right before cooking)
- 1/4 grated Parmesan cheese (added a bit more than that)
- 1 clove of garlic, crushed (I used 2)
- 1/2 tsp paprika (I only used a pinch)
- salt & pepper to taste
This recipe is definitely one of my new favorites. The great thing about it is that it's the type of recipe that you can just throw whatever ingredients you want in it. Nothing needs to be measured out perfectly (as you can see from my notes above). I added extra cheese, more broccoli than it called for, and there was no way the Quinoa was measured perfectly, but the casserole still came out amazing.
*adapted from
recipe