Recipe: Quinoa Egg Bake

This week is going to be crazy! PDubbs has his first "hell week" of the semester this week. Today, he had a presentation followed by a 2-hour biochemistry exam. There's an "active learning" module he has to prepare for Wednesday. And he'll spend the rest of his free time studying for his medicinal chemistry final that he'll take Friday afternoon. While he's slaving away, I'll also be reverting back to a student with 4 full days of classes this week. In the midst of this, we will be celebrating our 4-year anniversary(!!!) on the 27th with a date night Friday night after his exam. And Papa Dubbs is coming to stay with us Saturday & Sunday to celebrate his birthday and help us take care of some maintenance things around the condo.

So we have great things to look forward to at the end of the week! But getting there will be a challenge. And we're going to need some good fuel for our bodies and minds throughout the week. We know ourselves well enough to realize that if we don't plan ahead, we will go hungry from indecision and sheer exhaustion. We planned out some new, healthy & hearty meals over the weekend to get use through the week. We even stocked up on groceries to minimize shopping trips that usually end with extra impulse buys.

Sunday night we started on the right foot with a quinoa egg bake. It's full of super foods, like quinoa, eggs and spinach, that are high in protein and vitamins to jumpstart our bodies & minds. The quinoa settles to the bottom to create a sort of crust while the parmesan browns up beautifully for a crispy exterior. It was absolutely delicious and made enough for us to have leftovers later in the week!

Quinoa Egg Bake

Barely adapted from Whole Foods

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients
1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
8 eggs
1 1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon chopped garlic (3-4 cloves)
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 cups baby spinach, roughly chopped
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350'F. Grease an 8x8 inch glass or metal baking dish.

2. Rinse quinoa under cold water until water runs clear. Drain well.

If your strainer is like mine, you may need to line it with a paper towel so you don't lose all your quinoa!

3. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, garlic, spices and quinoa. Stir in spinach and pour mixture into prepared dish. Cover with aluminum foil and gently jiggle the dish so that the quinoa floats to the bottom.

4. Bake covered for 45 minutes. Remove foil and sprinkle top evenly with parmesan cheese. Return to oven and bake uncovered for 15 minutes more. Let cool for 5 minutes then slice & serve. Feel free to top with salsa or sriracha (PDubb's favorite!). 

Get. In. My. Belly.