Everythang’s betta with chedda.
When I was little, my mom used to make this amazing chicken and broccoli casserole. The star ingredients were broccoli, white rice, chicken (duh), cream of chicken soup and a bit more mayonnaise than she’d like to admit. And guess what? It was freaking fabulous. Creamy, comforting, happy belly goodness.
It was a classic in the dinner rotation, along with a few other favorites that overwhelm me with warm nostalgia. I have vivid memories of eating stuffed peppers, baked apples, spaghetti and zucchini kugel. Meatloaf, fajitas, chicken paprikash and broccoli and cheese squares. Oh and cream cheese cookies, apple cake and chocolate chip banana bread. The main dish was always something with meat, but we always had fresh veggies on the side with some kind of crusty bread and a huge fruit salad. My mom was (and still is) amazing in the kitchen. Eating dinner with my brother, sister and parents was something I looked so forward to each night. I’m a firm believer that eating meals together as a family is an integral part of developing good eating habits, bonding as a family and learning to appreciate the importance of a home cooked meal.
But let’s be real. I’m no longer as inclined to eat a big ole plate of chicken, rice and creamy sauce, no matter how much I may miss my mom. These days, my mom runs out to get me prepared vegetarian food from Mustard Seed Market whenever I come home to visit. God bless her heart. To think that she used to serve me meatloaf, mashed potatoes and green beans and now she’s scurrying to the health food store to get me organic tofu and kale salads. That’s true love.
In lieu of comforting, homey dinners, I was inspired to whip up a healthy rendition of chicken and broccoli yesterday. It’s much healthier but still loaded with flavor. I promise. You can even add more cheese if you feel like getting cray cray.
Here’s to chicken and broccoli casserole loaded not only with saturated fat, but also with laughter, memories, happy bellies and lots of love to pass around the dinner table.
Broccoli Cheddar Quinoa Pie
- ¾ cup dry quinoa
- 1½ cups water
- 3 cups finely chopped broccoli florets (measure after chopping)
- 1 large carrot, grated
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tbsp ground flaxseed
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (or ¼ cup of nutritional yeast for vegans)
- ¾-1 tsp salt, to taste
- pepper, to taste
- Pre-heat oven to 375F. Spray a 9 inch pie pan with cooking spray and set aside.
- Place quinoa and water in medium pot and bring to a a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes or until all the water has absorbed.
- While quinoa is cooking, place the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl and stir to combine.
- When quinoa is finished cooking, add to the large bowl and stir until throughly mixed.
- Scoop mixture into pie pan and bake for 25 minutes.
Yessss just in time for the weekend- need to try it out! I am impressed at the texture- I would think that quinoa would crumble when baked. This is a great dish to keep ready for quick lunches during the work week….and for it’s worth, I’m yet to eat a pie that I am not a fan of & I’m pretty sure this measures up too :)!
Khushboo Thadani recently posted…Vibrating workouts
It held together pretty well, which I was surprised about! And you can always throw in another egg, right? 🙂 It supplied me lunch allll week. Have a great wekeend, Khushboo!
I made this twice, and the second time I threw in an extra egg, which seemed to make it stick together a bit more. 🙂 Delicious. Thanks.
Thanks for the sweet comment, Teddi! Great idea to add in another egg. Thanks for reporting back!
I am going to smell like onions for weeks. Perhaps my oven is a little on the gentle side but it took me over double the cooking time. In fact, it is still in the oven and it’s been over an hour. I would suggest reworking this recipe a bit. Very sad. It had a lot of potential.
The best meals are definitely ones which ignite strong family memories! That looks incredible, and I would agree about the cheddar, but I stupidly bought a 1kg block and have added it to anything and everything, its time for a new cheese!
Arman @ thebigmansworld recently posted…off the cuff Fridays- Grain free kabocha flatbread
Don’t you love when food ignites those memories? The smells of yummy food really does it for me! I’m kind of sort of jealous of your 1kg block of cheese…for real. Happy Friday!
Yum love this recipe! I am actually not a huge cheese fan (I know, I know) so I think I will try this with nutritional yeast — possibly for my lunches this week or next 🙂 Have a fabulous weekend girly
Amy @ The Little Honey Bee recently posted…Simply Delicious… Giveaway!
This looks awesome! I made a similar recipe from the detoxinista last week using Nooch but I think this looks better and sometimes you gotta use the real stuff 😉 Have a good weekend!
Davida @ The Healthy Maven recently posted…Roasted Kabocha Squash Brownies
I saw that on Detoxinista and I totally pinned it and then forgot all about it….story of my life. How did it turn out??
Wow! I love quinoa and this looks so fab!
Thanks for sharing!
Shashi @ http://runninsrilankan.com recently posted…It’s Cabbage Yall!
Isn’t quinoa the best? I’ve been trying to incorporate it in different ways and voila–this happened! Happy Friday 🙂
This looks soo good! The mayo in casseroles always reminds me of Marshall’s mom on How I Met Your Mother!
Rachael@AnAvocadoADay recently posted…Saigon Hoppin’ John & Yardlong Beans with Shallots
Hahahaha spot on!!!
i am adding this to my dinner rotation 🙂
dixya| food, pleasure, and health recently posted…Fitness Friday : Q & A
Yay! Let me know how you like it if you give it a try 🙂 Happy Friday!
This is an excellent take on the creamy casseroles that I’m sure many of us remember from childhood. Aren’t moms the best? Kudos to families who support healthy habits. Have a fabulous weekend!
Moms are totally the best…especially ones that rock in the kitchen. Have a great weekend lady!
What an awesome recipe! I pinned it and can’t wait to give it a try! This would be perfect with a side salad for lunch. 🙂
Holly @ EatGreatBEGreat recently posted…Flexibility is Key
Thanks, Holly! It would definitely be rounded out well with a nice side salad. Enjoy!
Yum…Always fun to revamp classic comfort foods. I love that you have such great memories of family dinners when you were younger…so do I. My mom was/is the same- always cooked us wonderful meals and we ate together as a family. I think that’s so important, too.
Angela @ Health’s Angel recently posted…Silence the Mind
Yay! I have been looking forward to this one! Seriously, quinoa is just purely amazing :).
Hannah @ CleanEatingVeggieGirl recently posted…Friday Foodie Favorites: September 27, 2013
Purely amazing <---- totally.
Oh yes, everything is so much better with cheddar! This looks so delicious and healthy, I love it!
Sarah @ Making Thyme for Health recently posted…Things I’m Loving Lately {Natural Beauty Product Edition…and food}
Thanks, Sarah! Tasty and healthy is always best 🙂
my momma make chicken and rice casserole too with peas and campbell’s cream of mushroom – sooooo good! but nowadays she’s still a fab cook, last time she came to visit me she made these moraccan stuffed collards with tofu, raisins, wild rice, veggies, and coconut milk- they were BOMB.
This looks fab, per usual 🙂
Robyn @thereallife_RD recently posted…feel good friday: it’s FALL!
Holy cow…those Moroccan stuffed collards sound ridiculously good! You should totally recreate them and post the recipe on your blog 🙂 h!appy Friday!
yesssss, I’m so glad you posted this! Was drooling over the pic earlier this week!
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Enjoy!! Side note–drool is totally normal.
This looks delicious!
Matt @ The Athlete’s Plate recently posted…Paleo Banana-Walnut Bread
I know you appreciate some Cheddar!
This looks awesome! I agree – everything IS better with cheddar! 🙂
Lisa recently posted…Do You Remember?
Glad we’re in agreement!! Enjoy 😉
OMG that thing is CRAZY looking!!! It looks really fun to eat too! ha ha.
GiGi Eats Celebrities recently posted…¡Ay, Caramba! – Guest Post
QUITE fun to eat 🙂
Oh. My. Gooooodness. This looks absolutely incredible. My mom used to always make recipes like that too and I still have such a weakness for them, even though I know I shouldn’t. 🙂
Kiersten @ Oh My Veggies recently posted…50 Vegetarian Slow Cooker Recipes
It’s such mom food!! Love it.
Found you from Kiersten’s blog, and can’t wait to try this! I absolutely love your description about your mom’s casserole. Two of my sisters have massively changed how they eat too and when they come over my mom faithfully makes amazing gluten, dairy, egg free meals like she’s been doing it all her life! That IS true love.
Anna (Hidden Ponies) recently posted…Saturday Sweets: Chocolate Cranberry Shortbread Bars
DREAM meal right here!! Good thing I just stocked up on quinoa at Costco–bookmarking this to try!!
Erika recently posted…Chocolate chip cheesecake cookie bars
Thanks so much, Erika! Getting quinoa at Costco is SUCH a steal–good call!
Do you think there is a substitute for eggs in this recipe? one of my sons has a very severe egg allergy and I always want to try recipes like this, but can’t 🙁
Hmmmm the only think I can think of is using a flax or chia eggs. One flax egg is 1 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water mixed together and gelled for 5 minutes. I don’t know if the flavor and texture would be as good though. If I were you, I would leave out the eggs and just make it as more of a broccoli cheese quinoa pilaf. You could still bake it but it just won’t have that same quiche form. Hope that helps!
Thank you for the delicious recipe! I just made this and my roommate and I both LOVE it!! I’m a total newbie when it comes to quinoa so I wanted a nice
Thank you for the delicious recipe! I just made this and my roommate and I both LOVE it!! I’m a total newbie when it comes to quinoa so I wanted a easy quick and tasty meal to try it out with…this was perfect. Thanks! 🙂
I’m so glad to hear that, Stefanie!! Thanks for reporting back 🙂
“1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (or ¼ cup of nutritional yeast for vegans)”
I think the 3 Eggs will ruin it for the vegans, never mind the cheddar.
I made this tasty little dish for Christmas dinner and it was quite enjoyed. We did find the vegetables ended up tasting a bit raw, especially the onions. I’m giving this recipe another go, though I’m going to sauté the onions and garlic and I’m going add some extra cheddar on top to melt for effect.
And by add I meant melt. @_@
Good call on the eggs part 🙂 I’m glad you and your family enjoyed it! I agree with you on the veggie part–sautéing them beforehand would definitely help soften them up a bit. Thanks for reporting back, David!
What are your thoughts on freezing before baking?
I would maybe bake it and then freeze it? Not sure—never tried it!
We made this for dinner tonight and found that the taste of raw garlic was a little overwhelming. On the edges where the pie had browned, the taste had mellowed out. We’re hoping that the flavor will mellow out overnight- if not, we’ll probably broil it to develop the flavors more.
Next time, we’ll probably go for roasted garlic.
I’m sorry about the overwhelming garlic taste–never heard that one before! Hopefully it’ll mellow out in the fridge. Thanks for reporting back!
Do you think this will reheat well if I bake it when I make it? It won’t be for eating right away and will need to be reheated at a later time. Thanks!!
I’m honestly not quite sure. I would hope it wouldn’t dry out. I think it should be fine, though!