Don’t let the name muffin full you, these muffins are not for breakfast. They were born out of the necessity to use spinach and not knowing the best way to do it. I love quinoa and this recipe just came to me when I was thinking about stuff I had around the house. I bought ‘0’ items to add to these ‘muffins’ and I believe that almost any combination of veggies would work wonderfully.

I bought a giant bag of quinoa last week at Costco. I don’t have a card, but a nice friend took pity on me and let me buy bulk under her membership. Costco is amazing. I don’t know how I lived all these years without it!

Here’s the recipe

 Quinoa Veggie Muffins

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Ingredients:

1 cup dry quinoa, cooked (It would work great to have it cooked before you start)

1 onion chopped

1 bell pepper chopped

5 cups spinach, steamed or sautéed

1 can diced tomatoes with peppers, drained

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp garlic salt

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp cumin

¼ cup whole wheat panko bread crumbs

4 egg whites

Directions:

Cook the quinoa in either a pot or a rice cooker according to the directions on the bag. Remember quinoa has to be rinsed, or it has a bitter taste. Quinoa cooks at a 1 to 2 ratio quinoa to water.

 Chop all of your vegetables, except the spinach.

Steam or satuee the spinach. There is a lot, so this might require doing it in batches, or in a really big pot.

Once quinoa is cooked (and cooled) combine with the onion, bell pepper, and spinach. Make sure your spinach is somewhat drained as the excess liquid could mess up the consistency of the mixture. Add the canned tomatoes and any other desired seasonings at this time.

Last, add the egg whites. You want to make sure the quinoa mixture is not too hot at this time, or the egg whites will cook on contact before they have been evenly distributed into the mixture.

Last grease your muffin tin or add liners. Evenly distribute the mixture to the 12 tins.

Then sprinkle the tops with whole wheat bread crumbs.

Bake for around 40 minutes, or until they look golden brown.

Number of Servings: 12

I call these muffins because I cooked them in a muffin tin, but they are actually not as solid as a true muffin. I tested one straight out of the oven and it stayed together pretty good, but part of the mixture stuck to the bottom. I also, did not use muffin liners. I refrigerated them overnight in the muffin tin, and they came out a lot easier when I was packing them for my lunch this morning. It’s a trial and error type thing.

Nutritionials:

Enjoy!