Cheesy Quinoa Bites

So it isn't a huge secret that I am not all that crazy about quinoa.  I want to like it, I really do!  It is so crazy good for you, it is supposed to aid in migraine health, and your body burns it as fast as you eat it.  But for the most part, it just isn't one of my favorite things.  That is until I discovered these guys!  A blog I love,  So Very Blessed, created these little gems and oh man are they delicious!! They are crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside and JAMPACKED with flavor! What I really love about this recipe, is how customizable it is.  You can switch around the ingredients for totally different flavors- add pepperoni and mozzarella cheese and now you have quinoa pizza bites, use ham, diced chicken and Swiss and voila! you have Cordon Bleu bites.  A bit of corn, black beans, chilies and cilantro and now they are Southwestern!  These cheesy ones I feel are the "base recipe", and from there the sky's the limit!   Be sure you check out So Very Blessed to see all the many flavor combinations she has come up with!  I've made each and every one and we LOVE them all!  The kids can't get enough of them either, making it even better.  They make an awesome snack, appetizer or side dish. I've even served them alongside a salad for a satisfying dinner.  No matter how you serve them, they will get gobbled up as fast as lightening!

I normally make the quinoa bites in my mini muffin pan, but this last time, I had extra mixture left over so I made a few patties in my muffin-top pan and they were fantastic! They would make a great "burger".  In these pictures I had a used a quinoa/brown rice blend because that was what the market happened to have at the time, and they were just as yummy. 

Cheesy Quinoa Bites
Recipe courtesy So Very Blessed

Makes: ~ 28 bites

Ingredients
2 cups cooked quinoa (I cook my quinoa in low sodium chicken broth)
2 large eggs
1 cup shredded carrot
2 stalks green onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbs all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp seasoning salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

Instructions
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.Mix together quinoa, carrot, egg, green onion, garlic, cilantro, cheese, flour, salt and pepper.
3.Distribute mixture into a (well!) greased mini muffin tin, filling each cup to the top (1 heaping Tbs each).
4.Bake for 15-20 minutes.

We are big dippers in our house- the more sauces the better! Ha!  Our favorites are honey mustard dressing (pictured), BBQ sauce, frank's hot sauce, ranch/blue cheese dressing and for the pizza bites, spaghetti sauce of course!