Ah broccoli and cheddar. A match made in heaven. A perfect marriage of flavors. There’s something comforting about broccoli and cheddar. Except you don’t need real cheddar. You can use Daiya cheddar shreds and still enjoy this classic flavor in this tasty recipe.
These little cute bites make a great appetizer or a fun side dish. If you don’t have a mini-muffin pan I recommend baking this in a casserole dish and serving it up like a baked quinoa side dish. I tried making these in a regular muffin pan once and they just didn’t stay together nicely for a pop-in-your-mouth appetizer. The flavor will still be amazing both ways.
These keep in the fridge for a couple days once baked up but will lose their crispiness so if texture is important to you, gobble these up the same day.
Oh, and a note about chopping the broccoli. You should make sure you actually chop it up into nice small pieces. I left some bigger florets the first time I made these and where there were bigger chunks of broccoli the mini-muffins fell apart.
- 2 cups cooked quinoa
- 2 cups chopped broccoli
- 1 cup Daiya cheddar-style shreds
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon dried parsley
- ⅛ teaspoon Herbamare or your favorite seasoning blend
- Oil spray for mini-muffin tins
- Preheat oven to 375ºF. Grease a 24-cup mini-muffin tin with oil.
- In a large bowl combine all ingredients. Stir to combine well. Taste and adjust for seasoning.
- Spoon mixture into greased mini-muffin tins. Press firmly to pack each muffin cup fully.
- Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes until edges become lightly browned and crispy. Let cool about 5 minutes before popping the bites out out of the muffin tin.
These look phenomenal! I would love to try them but I am allergic to kale and broccoli in addition to gluten, casein and egg. Do you think this recipe would work if I substituted spinach for the broccoli?
Sure try spinach! Or cut up asparagus! Mmm.
Hi!
I just wanted to tell you how much I love your blog and let you know that I’ve nominated you for a Very Inspiring Blogger award!
http://writingbeckles.wordpress.com/2013/04/24/very-inspiring-blogger-award-thank-you/
Thank you so much Becky! I’ll spread the blog love around too. 🙂
Hi! Thank you so much for the awesome and inspiring recipes. I made a version of these tonight and they were mmmmmazing! My store was out of “cheddar shreds” so I used the Daiya pepper jack instead. It gave it some zip and worked really well. I also added 2 “eggs” worth of egg replacer to help hold thing together and had much success! Very yummy! Going to make them again for a Mother’s Day brunch 🙂 Thank you!!!
Thanks so much for the kind words! I’m thrilled you’ve been able to find inspiration here. Love the idea of using pepper jack shreds and the egg replacer. What kind of egg replacer did you use – in case other readers are interested in trying your version?
I used the Ener-G Foods Egg Replacer and it worked very well. I would guess that ground flax and warm water would work well too, but I haven’t tried that version.
These were amazing!!! Will definitely make it again. My boyfriend who loves dairy loved these! Thanks. Can’t wait to make more of your recipes.