Hummusapien

Broccoli Cheddar Quinoa Pie

68 Comments

Everythang’s betta with chedda.

quinoapie

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.

MY LATEST VIDEOS

quinoapie1

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.

quinoapie3

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

quinoapie2

Print

Broccoli Cheddar Quinoa Pie

★ 1 from 1 reviews
  • Author: Alexis
  • Cook Time: 20 mins
  • Total Time: 20 mins
  • Yield: 6
Print

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup dry quinoa
  • 1 1/2 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 1/4 cup of nutritional yeast for vegans)
  • 3/4-1 tsp salt, to taste
  • pepper, to taste

Instructions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 375F. Spray a 9 inch pie pan with cooking spray and set aside.
  2. 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.
  3. While quinoa is cooking, place the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl and stir to combine.
  4. When quinoa is finished cooking, add to the large bowl and stir until throughly mixed.
  5. Scoop mixture into pie pan and bake for 25 minutes.

Nutrition

  • Calories: 212
  • Sugar: 2 g
  • Sodium: 500 mg
  • Fat: 9 g
  • Carbohydrates: 22 g
  • Fiber: 4 g
  • Protein: 13 g

 

Comments

  1. 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 :)!

    Reply

    • 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!

      Reply

    • 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.

      ★

      Reply

  2. 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!

    Reply

    • 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!

      Reply

  10. 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.

    Reply

  13. 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 🙂

    Reply

  19. 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.

    Reply

  21. 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 🙁

    Reply

    • 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!

      Reply

  22. 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

    Reply

  23. 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! 🙂

    Reply

  24. “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.

    Reply

  26. 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.

    Reply

  27. 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!!

    Reply

Trackbacks

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆