CHEESY VEGGIE-QUINOA BITES

Cheesy Veggie-Quinoa Bites image

This is by far my favorite vegetarian quinoa recipe. My 2-year-old went crazy eating them. He couldn't even tell there were veggies in it! He asked for seconds... and thirds.

Provided by VeronicaArmstead

Time 50m

Yield 32

Number Of Ingredients 14

Ingredients

2 teaspoons vegetable oil, or as needed
1 ⅓ cups water
⅔ cup quinoa
½ cup cauliflower florets, or more to taste
3 carrots, shredded
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese, or more to taste
2 large eggs
¼ cup chopped fresh kale
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon flax seeds
1 tablespoon chia seeds
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons onion powder
salt and ground black pepper to taste

Steps:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a mini muffin tin with oil.
Bring water and quinoa to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until quinoa is tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain any excess liquid and let cool briefly.
Place a steamer insert into a saucepan and fill with water to just below the bottom of the steamer. Bring water to a boil. Add cauliflower, cover, and steam until tender, 2 to 6 minutes.
Mix cooked quinoa, steamed cauliflower, carrots, Cheddar cheese, eggs, kale, flour, flax seeds, chia seeds, garlic, onion powder, salt, and pepper together in a bowl. Spoon mixture into the muffin cups and press down lightly.
Bake in the preheated oven until edges are light brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool in pan, about 5 minutes. Remove bites from pan and let cool, about 5 minutes more.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 43.3 calories, Carbohydrate 3.9 g, Cholesterol 15.3 mg, Fat 2.2 g, Fiber 0.7 g, Protein 2.1 g, SaturatedFat 0.9 g, Sodium 37.2 mg, Sugar 0.5 g