Quinoa Spinach Bake Food

QUINOA-SPINACH BAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat an 8-by-8-inch glass or ceramic baking dish with olive-oil spray. Coat with breadcrumbs; set aside.
• Fill a large bowl with ice and water; set aside. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add spinach; blanch until bright green, about 10 seconds. Transfer to ice bath. When spinach is cold, remove from ice bath, squeeze out all water, and finely chop; set aside.
• Heat the olive oil in a medium saute pan. Add onion, garlic, thyme, rosemary, and red-pepper flakes, and saute until translucent, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat; transfer to a medium bowl.
• Add spinach, quinoa, cottage cheese, pepper, and eggs to the onion mixture, and stir until well combined. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish, and place in the oven. Bake until set and edges are brown, 60 to 70 minutes. Slice, and serve warm or at room temperature.

BAKED QUINOA WITH SPINACH AND CHEESE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Oil a 2-quart gratin or baking dish.
• Heat a medium frying pan or a wide saucepan over medium-high heat. Wash the spinach and without spinning dry, add to the pan and wilt in the liquid left on the leaves after washing. You may have to do this in 2 batches. As soon as the spinach wilts, remove from the heat and rinse with cold water. Squeeze dry and chop. Set aside.
• Wipe the pan dry and heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in it over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and stir with the onion until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in the spinach and season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat.
• Beat the eggs in a large bowl and add 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir in the quinoa, the onion and spinach mixture, the Gruyère, and the sage. Add freshly ground pepper and stir the mixture together. Scrape into the gratin dish. Sprinkle the Parmesan over the top and drizzle on the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Place in the oven and bake until nicely browned on top, about 25 minutes. Remove from the heat, allow to sit for about 5 minutes, and serve.

QUINOA WITH CHICKPEAS AND SPINACH

Steps:

• Rinse the quinoa well and drain in a fine-mesh sieve. Combine water and orange juice to equal 1 3/4 cups, and bring to a boil in a 2-quart saucepan. Add the sea salt, orange zest, and rinsed quinoa. Return to boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes, or until all the liquid has been absorbed. Remove from heat and let sit, covered, for 10 minutes to fluff up.
• While the quinoa is cooking, heat the oil in a large skillet that has a tight-fitting lid. Add the onions and saute over medium-high heat for 10 minutes, until they have softened and started to brown a bit. Add garlic and saute until golden.
• Add raisins, chickpeas, and chopped spinach. Cover and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, or just until the spinach has wilted. Adjust heat if necessary. Drain any excess water after cooking the spinach. Season to taste with sea salt.
• To serve, fold the vegetables into the hot, cooked quinoa. Stir in cinnamon. Garnish with the toasted pine nuts (or walnuts) and orange wedges for a final squeeze of juice.

QUINOA AND SPINACH PILAF

Steps:

• Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat; cook and stir onion and garlic until onion is softened, about 4 minutes. Add quinoa to onion mixture; cook and stir for about 1 minute more.
• Pour water over quinoa mixture; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, cover saucepan, and simmer until quinoa is tender and water is absorbed, about 20 minutes.
• Stir spinach and lemon zest into quinoa mixture; season with salt and pepper.

QUINOA WITH SPINACH AND FETA CHEESE

Steps:

• Rinse the quinoa in a strainer.
• In a small saucepan, add the quinoa and 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then cover and reduce heat to simmer until water is absorbed, about 10-15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat a skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil and garlic and onion.
• Cook the garlic in the oil until the edges of the garlic turns very light brown, being careful not to burn the garlic (reduce heat to low if necessary).
• When the quinoa is done cooking, add it to the skillet along with the spinach.
• Stir it together until the spinach wilts.
• Add the crumbled feta cheese and stir to combine. Makes 2 servings.