Saw, Pinned, Made: Quinoa Mac and Cheese Recipe

I'm still trying to get all of the pics from our trip from MG's sisters so I can give you guys an awesome recap, so bear with me while I try and get it all together. Promise there will be some pretty pics!

But, in the meantime I have a super yummy and super healthy dish for you to try! I saw it on Pinterest here and am posting my version since the directions were not very clear on the site that I looked at.

Quinoa 'Mac' and Cheese!

It's light, but filling, and full of great stuff that's actually good for you!

It looks like there are a lot of steps but that's only because I really broke it down so it's SUPER easy to follow. It's really not hard, at all! And you probably have most of the ingredients on hand already!

Servings: 6-8, depending how big of a serving you take :)

What You Need:

(pretend Panko bread crumbs are in this pic)

-1 1/2 cups of dry quinoa

-2 cloves of garlic (or about 2 tsp. of minced garlic)

-2 eggs

-1 cup of milk (I used 1%)
-1 1/2 cups cheese (I used a mix of sharp cheddar and Four cheese Mexican. Whatever I had on hand)

-a few dashes of seasoning salt

-dash of salt

-some olive oil (about 1 Tablespoon)

-Veggies of your choice, I used broccoli

-Panko bread crumbs (about 3/4 cup)

What You Do:

1. Cook the quinoa according to package directions. This takes about 15 minutes. Add in the seasoning salt and regular salt while the quinoa is simmering (I did about 3 solid tips of the jar of seasoning salt, and a dash of salt).

2. While your quinoa is cooking, add olive oil and minced garlic to a frying pan. Heat it for about a minute and then add in your veggie to saute and get coated in the garlic flavor (about 5 minutes).

(I used the broccoli steamers bag, cooked it in the microwave, and then did this part, so the broccoli was already tender).

3. Once the quinoa is done, in a very large bowl whisk together the 2 eggs and milk.

4. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees at this point. 

Add the broccoli (or other veggie) to the quinoa and mix it together in the pot that you cooked the quinoa in.

5. Fold in the broccoli/quinoa mixture to the whisked eggs and milk. Then, fold in the cheese. Let the cheese melt a bit while you stir it together. It will be a little soupy, but that's ok. It'll all get baked into yummy goodness in the oven.

6. Get a 9x13 baking dish, spray it with cooking spray and add in the entire mixture to the baking dish.

7. If you're using the Panko bread crumbs (and I suggest you do because it adds a nice crunchy top layer), add it to the top now. I used about 3/4 of a cup of Panko bread crumbs that lightly coated the top.

8. Now that your oven is preheated, place your baking dish into the oven for 25-35 minutes, until the top layer begins to lightly brown. Mine took about the entire 35 minutes.

9. Pull that bad boy out, and plate it up!

You can add any topping you want. The original website suggested sour cream, hot sauce, salsa, etc. 

I tried the hot sauce and wasn't a fan. Sour cream added a nice creaminess to it. Add whatever sounds good to you and enjoy!

The original website had this recipe at about 339 calories per serving, based on 8 servings. Not too shabby (or flabby!) :)

I saw, I pinned, I made!