Cheesy Sausage and Broccoli Quinoa Bake

We had some broccoli sitting around in the fridge that really needed to get used up, and I really wanted some cheesy carb-y comfort food. The result? A delicious casserole dish that used up that broccoli mixed with some turkey sausage, healthy quinoa, and lots of cheesy heaven. Did I mention it was cheesy?

Casseroles in general are something I love, especially fully self contained ones because I really *hate* having to come up with side dishes, which is particularly difficult since I dislike many cooked vegetables. Although a side-salad would definitely not be amiss with this dish, I wanted cheesy carb-y comfort food remember?

So here's the recipe I came up with for dinner, and it was totally delicious. I split the mixture up into half so I could bake half tonight and then freeze the other half for a weeknight sometime later when I need a quick easy meal I can toss in the oven.

Cheesy Sausage and Broccoli Quinoa Bake

Ingredients:

- 1.5 cups of uncooked quinoa (about 3 cups cooked)

- 2 heads of broccoli crowns, dice the florets, discard stem

- 1 lb of turkey sausage, browned and diced

- 1 small onion, diced

- 1 cup of cheddar cheese, plus extra for sprinkling on top

- 1 can cheddar cheese soup

- 1 cup of milk

- 2 TBSP butter

- 3 TBSP all purpose flour

- 2 cloves of garlic, minced

- 1 TSP curry powder

- 1/2 TSP cayenne pepper

Directions:

1. Cook quinoa according to package instructions. 

2. Bring water in a pot to boil and add in broccoli. Boil for 5 minutes or until broccoli is a little softened. Drain broccoli and mix in with the quinoa.

3. Add the 2 TBSP of butter to a heated pan and allow to melt. Add in the onion and garlic. Saute for a minute then add the flour, cayenne pepper, and curry powder. Mix well.

4. Combine the canned soup and milk together in a small bowl, and add to the mixture in the pan. Mix well and once the soup has thinned out, slowly add in the cup of cheddar cheese allowing it to melt into the sauce. 

5. Once all of the cheese has been added and melted pour the sauce mixture over top of the quinoa and broccoli. Add in the chopped sausage and mix well to make sure the quinoa mixture is well coated with the sauce. 

6. I divided up the mixture at this point in half to freeze half and bake half.

7. Put quinoa mixture into a baking dish and sprinkle extra cheese on top. Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until cheese is melted and casserole is heated through.

Enjoy the cheesy goodness!!

More from the #TestKitchen: Broccoli Cheese Bites

It's been a while since I've gotten a new post up and I'm duly ashamed. It's been a crazy summer and we're getting ready to move at the end of the month. But today the urge struck to try out a new kitchen adventure, and it turned out SO delicious that I couldn't help but set aside some time to come and share it with you!

The recipe is super simple and the result is just too good.

Broccoli Cheese Bites 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of broccoli, steamed and drained
• 1/2 cup of shredded cheese
• 3 eggs
• 1 TSP Montreal Steak Spice
• 1 cup Stove Top Stuffing Mix

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl.

3. Scoop out 1/4 cup of the mixture, and with your hands, form small patties and lay on a parchment lined baking sheet.

4. Bake for 25 minutes, flipping them after the 15 minute mark. 

5. Let cool and enjoy.

These are super amazing dipped in Ranch salad dressing, but are also quite good on their own too. They're also perfectly sized for little fingers, and your toddler will love feeding themselves these veggie packed bites. You could even get creative and add some bacon bits into the mixture to make it more of a complete meal.

Another #TestKitchen success story!