These cheddar quinoa bites are served with a spicy yogurt dipping sauce. They pack a healthy, protein punch and are a great side dish.
Things learned this weekend…
Top 40 music becomes much more fun after 3 vodka cranberries and 2 beers.
Coworkers become much more fun after 3 vodka cranberries and 2 beers. (I kid, I kid, they’re always great)
I’ve reached some emotional peak in my life where I now cry at father/daughter dances.
Duck fat fries at a wedding? Best idea ever.
Especially after 3 vodka cranberries and 2 beers.
Navigating a directionally challenged husband home at midnight after 3 vodka cranberries and 2 beers is amusing.
Cheesy quinoa bites make excellent hangover food the next day.
Besides the fact that I pronounced it as “kin-o-wah” for the first year of our relationship, I’m pretty much in love with quinoa. It masks itself like a carby grain but you can eat it and not have to worry about what your added protein is going to be because it is one! I’m positive if I was a vegetarian I’d live off the stuff.
Add cheddar, Mexican spices, corn kernels that pop in your mouth from freshness and a spicy yogurt dipping sauce and our relationship goes from love to something slightly inappropriate.
Kind of like me on the dance floor Saturday night.
Cheddar Quinoa Bites
Ingredients
Quinoa bites
- 1/2 cup uncooked red quinoa
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup cheddar, grated
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
- 3 tablespoons bread crumbs
- 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 small shallot, minced
- 1/3 cup corn kernels, fresh or thawed from frozen
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- salt & pepper
Dipping sauce
- 1/4 cup plain greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon sriracha
Instructions
Quinoa Bites
- Rinse quinoa then combine with water in a small sauce pan.
- Bring to a boil and then cover and simmer until water is absorbed (about 20 minutes).
- While quinoa cooks, combine remaining ingredients in a large bowl.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat.
- Add quinoa to the bowl when finished cooking and combine all ingredients with clean hands.
- Form mixture into golf ball sized balls (this will be messy but they should come together enough to form balls. If not, add a bit more breadcrumbs) and place on baking sheet.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- If any of the balls have cracked while cooking, reshape them while still hot then let cool to harden.
Dipping sauce
- Combine yogurt and sriracha in small bowl and stir together.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Adapted from Tablespoon via Bev Cooks
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
Anything cheese is a good idea after imbibing the night before…I would know, I drank a bottle of champagne for dinner last night. Need to go find the ingredients for these little boogers…stat.
Sounds like a great weekend!
The quinoa bites look delish!! Another recipe I just have to make! I just starting using quinoa and I love it! I make a big batch of it on Sunday’s and use it in my yogurt jar for breakfast!
Have a lovely week!
These sound awesome!!!
Best drink to get easily tipsy or beyond. And everything is truly more enjoyable and funny after several.
Haha…I think there’s very little in life that *isn’t* better after a few drinks.
These look great!
very true :)
Those look delicious! Need to go pick up some more quinoa so I can try this!
Sounds like you had an awesome weekend! I’m so glad you keep coming up with amazing quinoa recipes – it’s my favorite right now!
Btw – I made a watermelon slushie saturday inspired by you – it was the highlight of that hot afternoon!
This looks great, can’t wait to try it. I’ve got some quinoa that’s been lonely lately.
HAHAHAHAHA everything is just a little better after 3 vodka cranberries and a couple of beers.
Check these out! So glad you made them. Now I want like 50.