Cheesy Quinoa Bake

With the holidays right around the corner this casserole is perfect for serving at brunch! I originally made this for dinner, but ended up eating it for breakfast this morning instead :) the milk and the eggs really hold the quinoa together and give it more of a "quiche-like" consistency. Play around with this recipe and add or leave out anything you want...basically I used all ingredients I had on hand and needed to use up. This could be made with or without meat or even with more cheese ( 4 cheese quinoa bake anyone??)

Cheesy Quinoa Bake 
Prep Time: 20 minutes Total time: 50 minutes
Serves 8 as a main, 16 as a side

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups quinoa, rinsed and drained
Veggies of your choice (optional)
Meat of your choice (optional)
good pinch of salt
1 clove garlic, minced
1 large egg, 2 large egg whites
1 cup non-fat milk
1 1/2 cups reduced fat grated Cheddar cheese, more for sprinkling
Optional- Crushed Red Pepper, Panko Bread crumbs for topping
Toppings (optional)- salsa, hot sauce, sour cream, scallions, ketchup


Preheat oven to 350 F. Coat 13x9 inch dish( or 8 individual ramekins) with cooking spray. saute any veggies you would like in this dish. Cook quinoa to packaged instructions until fully cooked. (About 15 minutes) Whisk together eggs and milk in large bowl. Fold in quinoa mixture and cheese. Stir very well and let some of the cheese melt.  Transfer to prepared baking dish and if using Panko Crumbs or Bread crumbs add now and bake 30-35 mins, until bread crumbs are browned. 

This time for veggies/meat I added two links cooked diced spanish chicken andoullie sausage, 1 diced red bell pepper, 1 diced small yellow onion, and about 15 sliced spicy green olives (I sort of took a spanish approach since I needed to use up my andoullie sausage) I lightly sauteed the peppers, onions, and olives, and garlic. Then added both the sausage and the veggies after combining the quinoa with the milk, eggs, and cheese. I topped with seasoned whole wheat breadcrumbs and served with sour cream for dinner and with ketchup for breakfast!