Cheesy Quinoa

We eat a fairly healthy diet around here. Lots of fruit and veggies, lean meat, not many sweets, rarely fried, but I am always trying to find ways to incorporate even more healthy food into our family's meals. I like quinoa. My family, on the other hand, does not. Even though we fed it to the kids when they were babies. Darn. So I need to find a recipe for quinoa that does not really taste like quinoa. Hmmm...

They like cheese, so I searched for a recipe and voila! The girls were still not huge fans, but they ate it. It felt and tasted like comfort food to me, even though it was still really healthy. My mom was over for lunch and ate it too, and she said she liked it and even went back for seconds, so that's a promising sign. I think if I added broccoli and served it as a side, they might like it even more. (My kids are the very rare variety that like both spinach AND broccoli. I feel very fortunate for that!)

So here's the recipe. Mmmm....

Cheesy Quinoa Bake*

1 c. quinoa, uncooked (about 3 c. cooked - follow this link to find out more about cooking quinoa)
1 c. milk
1 egg
2 c. grated cheddar cheese (I might do more next time)
1 tsp seasoning salt
garlic powder and pepper to taste
1/2 c. seasoned Panko bread crumbs

1. Cook quinoa. (takes about 20 minutes)
2. Whisk together milk, egg, and seasonings.
3. Stir in cheese and quinoa, pour into a  9 x 9 baking dish.
4. Top with Panko bread crumbs and bake! I put it under the broiler on low for a few minutes to get the bread crumbs nice and brown.

Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes.

*I adapted what I did from recipes here and here (photo also from this page).