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!!

Quinoa Recipes: Cheesy Quinoa Cakes

Quinoa is quickly becoming an incredibly popular food and alternative to eating rice. A lot of people who want to try out quinoa at home are put off though because they don't know what to do with it. We're big fans of quinoa in this house so I figured I'd share some of our top recipe suggestions for how to incorporate quinioa into your diet at home. Today's recipe is Cheesy Quinoa Cakes.

Cheesy Quinoa Cakes

Ingredients:

- 2 cups cooked quinoa
- 2/3 cup grated fontina cheese (or any cheese you happen to have on hand!)
- 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
- 2 ½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- salt to taste

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients, except for the oil, into a mixing bowl and stir together until well combined. Season with salt and allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes.
2. Pour oil into a large sauté pan and place over medium heat. 
3. Form ¼ cup patties with the quinoa mixture and place in the heated sauté pan. (this will have to be done in batches) 
4. Cook quinoa cakes for about 5 minutes on each side. Repeat with the remaining patties until all of the cakes have been cooked.

The best part about these quinoa cakes is you can top them with WHATEVER you want!! Seriously. I've tried them with zucchini relish, left over curry, tamarind sauce, a little greek salad dressing and plain! They've been delicious every time. You can also make them into mini cakes for a super kid friendly side dish. I've tested these out on a room full of 3 year olds, and they were a big hit!