3 Cheese Quinoa Casserole

You guys, I've got something super special planned for the blog starting in March, and I'm so totally excited about it. I've been going crazy researching recipes and techniques and writing myself all kinds of notes that, taken out of context, totally make me sound like a serial killer. (Stick a bamboo skewer in hand, freeze.Stick in blue Jell-o)

I haven't decided whether or not I want to tell you guys what I've got planned, or if I want it to be a surprise. I'm actually terrible at keeping secrets. Doing secret Santa is agony for me, because I always want to go up to the person and be like, "I got you. I'm totally shopping for your present right now. I'm putting lots of personality and thought into it, too."

Strangely, I've never had a problem keeping what I bought a secret. I guess because they're already expecting a present, and I just want them to know that I'm the one buying it.

Anyway, I can't decide if this thing I'm planning would be better as a surprise, or if I should just tell you. It's probably better as a surprise, right? People like surprises. But I want to tell you.

So as a compromise, I'm gonna drop you guys hints in each post, from now until I start. Maybe that will keep me from bursting out with it, because I have a whole month longer to wait, and I can't stand keeping it a secret anymore! And if you guess, well, cat's out of the bag and I don't have to keep it a secret.

So, hint #1: I'm planning on doing another series (like Sunday S'mores) starting the end of March.

Super special auxiliary hint: This casserole has absolutely nothing to do with your surprise.

I've seen recipes around the interwebz for quinoa mac'n cheese, and I'm all like, "It's quinoa, not macaroni, so shouldn't it be qui'n cheese?" But they looked tasty, so I let it slide.

As my house still has an overabundance of quinoa, I decided to try it out. I made a cheese sauce based on the one from my favorite mac'n cheese (with actual mac) recipe. I had some sausage meat and some frozen broccoli, so I threw those in to make it a full meal. Then I slopped it all in a baking dish, added some panko and some parm to the top (and a little parsley, for pretties) (and some extra garlic, because I'm me), and baked it until it bubbled like the swamp thing.

How did it taste? Well, like mac'n cheese. But if you made mac'n cheese with like pastina instead of regular pasta. Or, you know, with quinoa. Oh, and I'm super proud of this 3-cheese sauce, because it was uber-yummy and gooey all by its lonesome. I could probably just sit there with a spoon and eat it straight from the pot.

3 Cheese Quinoa Casserole {Printable Version}
Yield: 6-8 servings

Ingredients
For the quinoa
1½ cups uncooked quinoa, rinsed
3 cups water
½ tsp. salt


For the sauce
1 lb. sausage meat*
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small onion, diced
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. sea salt
¼ tsp. pepper (freshly cracked)
2 cups milk
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
¼ grated parmesan, plus extra to top
12 oz. frozen broccoli, thawed and drained
Panko bread crumbs, to top


Directions
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Prepare the quinoa: In a large saucepan, bring 3 cups of water and ½ tsp. salt to a boil. Add the quinoa, and return to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes, until the water is absorbed. Remove from heat, fluff with a fork, and allow to cool.

Prepare the sauce: In another pot, cook the sausage over medium heat. Drain off the excess fat, and remove the cooked sausage to another plate. Add the garlic, onion, and butter to the pot, and heat over medium-low heat until the butter is melted and the onion is translucent. Add in the flour, salt, and pepper and mix well. Gradually add in the milk, stirring constantly. Continue to heat until it starts to boil. Remove from heat, and add the cheese ½ cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. The cheese should be completely melted before the next batch is added. When all the cheese has been added, add the cooked sausage, quinoa, and broccoli, mixing well.

Spread the mixture evenly into a 9x13 inch baking dish and top liberally with extra parmesan and bread crumbs. Bake 40-50 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool slightly before serving.

*Any meat can be used in place of the sausage, or it can be skipped altogether for a vegetarian dish.

Recipe by Kim

Apple Baked Oatmeal & Quinoa

Me and the bestie went to see The Hobbit yesterday.

Can I tell you something that shouldn't really surprise you? I loved The Lord of the Rings. Books and movies. And I'm still mad at Peter Jackson for skipping the Cleansing of the Shire simply because he didn't like that part, even though I thought he did a fantabulous job otherwise.

Fast forward to the Hobbit. I read the book in sixth grade for class, and I didn't really like it. My mother, who also loves LotR, swore that it was because I read it for school with a teacher I didn't like. I tried reading it again, later. Still nope. So I wasn't too excited to for the movie.

And then Peter Jackson went and cast Martin Freeman as Bilbo. And then he cast Benedict Cumberbatch as Smaug. It's like he planned it all out specifically to make me see it. I'm not sure I would have gone otherwise, but I love those two actors far too much to miss it. And maybe I was a tiny, tiny bit happy to see Middle Earth again.

But all that said, I wasn't thrilled with it. And I think my main problem was the length. 3 hours long, and not a whole lot happened. Plus, at times it seemed a bit confused. The Hobbit is a kid's book, and there are times when it seems that Peter Jackson tried to make it kid-friendly. Like the little-boy humor found in a few places, such as the troll accidentally using Bilbo as a handkerchief. Or when the dwarves start singing and kind of make it feel like a Disney movie. And if they had made it a kid's movie, that would have been fine, but these moments are immediately followed by epic battle scenes (which feel a bit tacked-on, to tell the truth) or terrifying moments with Gollum or the goblin king or the "pale orc" that I do not remember whatsoever from the book (I'm old). And no kid would be able to sit through the three-hour movie that was more exposition than anything else. Not to mention that a lot of the action scenes felt a bit recycled from LotR, and the CGI somehow doesn't look as good as it did in the other movies over a decade ago.

The fact is, they made the Lord of the Rings into 3 movies for 3 very lengthy, very involved books. Peter Jackson even originally pitched a two-movie script, thinking that he wouldn't be able to sell 3. So the fact that they're turning the shortest and simplest book of the series into 3 movies I think will make for a lot of tedious moments.

Will I go see the next one? Yes. Martin Freeman was a wonderful Bilbo, and I did adore the dwarves. And Benedict Cumberbatch as a dragon is just too delicious to miss. I just hope it moves a bit faster, and I'm a little bit sad that we won't be seeing Gollum again.

This recipe... has absolutely nothing to do with the Hobbit. Although I like to think that it's the sort of hearty fare Elrond might serve for breakfast in Rivendell. Or maybe it's too simple for elves. Hmm, in the Prancing Pony in Bree? That's from the Fellowship. But they didn't go to any taverns in the Hobbit, precious. Maybe the Bagginses eats it for breakfast, maybe it does. Gollum, gollum.

(Sorry. I'll stop with the impressions. Yes we will, precious.) (Last time, promise)(Gollum)

Since everyone in my house is sick, I decided we needed a warm, hearty, healthy breakfast. The kind that fills your tummy and makes you warm from head to toe. And since I have an awful lot of oats, and an awful lot of quinoa, I baked them both with some apples and dried cherries. Then served it nice and hot and drizzled with syrup. Yum. It's like a giant oatmeal cookie that you can eat for breakfast.

You probably could make this with old-fashioned oats instead of quick oats, and it would probably fall apart less, but quick oats was all I had. If you want to try, you should probably increase the liquid.

Apple Baked Oatmeal and Quinoa {Printable Version}
Yield: 8-10 servings

Ingredients
1 cup cooked quinoa
1 cup quick oats
2 tbsp. sugar
1½ tsp. apple pie spice
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 cup peeled and chopped apples
1 cup dried cherries*
1 cup milk
¼ cup maple syrup
2 eggs, lightly beaten
½ tsp. vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Spray a 9-inch deep dish pie tin with non-stick cooking spray. In a large bowl, mix together the quinoa, oats, sugar, apple pie spice, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the apples and dried cherries, and spread evenly into the prepared pie dish.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients until well blended. Pour evenly over the
oatmeal mixture. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until set. Serve warm, drizzled with maple syrup.

*Dried cranberries or raisins would also work well.

Recipe by Kim

Sweet Potato Quinoa Muffins

I know what you're thinking (because I'm psychic, of course). Two recipes with quinoa in a row? What the crapperdoodle is with these shenanagins?

And I know you used the word shenanigans, because it is an awesome word. As is crapperdoodle, which is a Kim-made-it-up special.

There are two main reasons for the sudden influx of quinoa. The first is because someone decided it was a good idea to buy a giant 30lb bag of quinoa, even though he'd never made it before and has no idea what to do with it other than just cook it plain. (Okay, so it was a 4lb bag, but 4lbs of uncooked quinoa is a lot of frickin' quinoa).

The second is because it's January and everyone is on their New Year's resolution diets. Normally that wouldn't bother me, but everyone is all whine whine you're ruining my diet whine whine OMG, you know I shouldn't eat this stuff whine whine whine your pictures make me so hungry that I have to go and stuff my face. And even though I argue that just because it's there, doesn't mean you have to eat it, it's still all my fault.

So with everyone whining for healthy stuff, and me with a surplus of super healthy quinoa, it seemed logical to kill two birds with one stone (Mr. Spock, eat your heart out). And the fact that quinoa is easy to make in large batches and keeps well in the fridge doesn't hurt.

Though traditionally served like a grain, quinoa is actually a seed, similar to couscous in terms of texture. It's high in protein, amino acids, and vitamins, and it has a nutty sort of flavor. It's nutritional value has made it the new "it" food in health and fitness circles.

So I took the vitamin-rich quinoa, combined it with vitamin-rich sweet potato and put it into a whole wheat muffin. Because I care about your health. And it got people to stop whining. But mostly the first thing.

These are pretty short and ugly muffins. I made the batter way too thick (I fixed that for you in the recipe. You're welcome), and they didn't rise much. But instead of being dense like I expected, they were soft and as packed with flavor as they were with nutrition. I'm not the hugest fan of sweet potatoes, so these aren't exactly my favorite. But they got some rave reviews from the people I fed them to, so I guess they turned out pretty good.

I hope the New Year's resolution dieters are satisfied. I'm not sure how long I can keep up these healthy recipes. I'm starting to feel vaguely itchy.

 Sweet Potato Quinoa Muffins {Printable Version}
 Yield: 20 muffins

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
¾ tsp. salt
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. nutmeg
Heaping 1 cup cooked and mashed sweet potato
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup milk
½ cup butter, melted
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup cooked quinoa, cooled

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, mix together the flours, baking powder, cinnamon, salt,
baking soda, and nutmeg. In a separate bowl, mix together all remaining ingredients, except the quinoa, until smooth and well blended. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and mix until fully incorporated. Fold in the quinoa. Divide the batter equally between 20 muffin cups and bake 18-20 minutes, or until the tops spring back when lightly pressed. Cool on wire racks.

Recipe by Kim

 

Quinoa Breakfast Cookies

Can we just take a moment and talk about how British TV has ruined my life?

Mostly I'm talking BBC's Sherlock. Because over a year has passed since the last episode, and they haven't even starting filming the next season.

And do you know why this is? Because the stupid actors have to be sooo brilliant that they're totally becoming famous, and doing blockbuster movies, and Peter Jackson even delayed filming of the Hobbit because Martin Freeman just had to go and finish breaking my heart and filming the last of series 2 of Sherlock. Into little, itty bitty pieces, Martin Freeman. Itty bitty pieces.

Martin Freeman plays John Watson, and he just sort of grabs hold of you and he's so sweet and lovable and unexpectedly badass that you don't even notice the grip he's got on your heartstrings until he freaking pulls, and oh crap, can't handle all the feels. I knew enough of the Sherlock Holmes canon that I knew what was going to happen, and I knew what it meant, but freaking Martin Freeman still had me bawling like a baby.

And then there is Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays Sherlock, and is just as brilliant as Martin Freeman, and I'm a little bit in love with him and his cheekbones. It's a little bit unfair how good-looking he is, because he's a wonderful Sherlock. See, even though Sherlock Holmes is such a cold, unrelatable character, you start to like him because Watson does. And then you like him even more because it's clear that he cares about Watson, but he doesn't have any social skills to speak of, so you excuse him for being a prick because of those adorably awkward moments when he tries to apologize. And of course he's amazing and has superhero-like powers of deduction, and despite the fact that he claims sentiment is a weakness, he lets you glimpse those moments that show he really does care, made all the more profound for their rarity. And he does this all while being, if I may borrow a term from Anne Rice, a gorgeous fiend. There's no defending against that.

And then there are the moments when John and Sherlock giggle together like little boys, and that just chips away your last little bit of defense.

Source

Of course, that all says nothing of the writing and direction, which is smart and subtle and doesn't pander to the lowest common denominator like a lot of shows do (even though I solved A Study in Pink like 20 minutes in; come on Moffat, you're better than that).

Not like Elementary, which I started watching in an attempted to feed my Sherlock addiction. Jonny Lee Miller is fantastic (mostly because he plays Sherlock in a completely different way; you can't out Cumberbatch the master), but the writing is poor, and I can't get behind Lucy Liu's Watson. She's annoying and a nag, has a rather confused backstory and is completely unrelatable. Watson is supposed to be the everyday man (or woman, as it were), the one you identify with and the plot device Sherlock has to explain his deductions to. She works as a plot device, not a whole lot else. If they could amp up the writing a little more, make Watson a little more sympathetic, and the police a lot less dumb, it would be a good show. Not as good as Sherlock, but then we don't have to wait thirty years for the next season, either.

So that's one example of how British TV has ruined my life. And I didn't even get into Merlin or Doctor Who. Next time.

After having British TV ruin my life and Martin Freeman break my heart into itty bitty pieces, I deserve cookies. For breakfast. Don't you agree? 

And they're not just cookies, but super healthy vegan cookies made with protein-packed quinoa, whole wheat, bananas, and only 1 tablespoon of oil for the whole batch. And some antioxidant-rich dark chocolate chips. Because I need chocolate after all the feels, okay? *sniffle*

These cookies are soft, sweet, and flavorful. You're never going to mistake them for the dessert kind, but they're tasty and so darn healthy, you can eat them for breakfast. Or munch on them guilt-free while watching Sherlock and sobbing your brains out.

Quinoa Breakfast Cookies {Printable Version}

Yield: 18 cookies

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tbsp. wheat germ (optional)

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

½ tsp. salt

1 banana, mashed

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 tbsp. molasses

1 tbsp. vegetable oil

½ tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup cooked quinoa, cooled

½ cup dark chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, wheat germ (if using), baking powder,

cinnamon, and salt. Add the banana, sugar, molasses, oil, and vanilla, and mix until well incorporated.

Fold in the quinoa and chocolate chips. Drop the batter by the tablespoon on a cookie sheet lined with

parchment paper or a silpat mat. Bake 10-12 minutes, until the cookies are set. Cool on wire racks.

Tip: The cookies will stick. Use a metal spatula to help remove them.

Recipe by Kim