Quinoa Breakfast Bars

I cook a lot of quinoa, and often times I end up with a lot of quinoa leftovers!

I decided to try baking with the leftovers, and I made these Quinoa Breakfast Bars that the kids love!

They are also great as a mid-day snack!

Quinoa Breakfast Bars

Ingredients:

• 1 c quick cooking oats
• 1 c chopped walnuts
• 1 c smooth peanut butter
• 1 c cooked quinoa
• 1 c chocolate chips
• 1/2 c honey
• 1 t vanilla
• 1 t ground cinnamon
• 1 T chia seeds
• 1 T hemp seeds

Directions:

• Mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl.
• Place mixture into a 9x9" parchment-lined pan.
• Bake in a preheated 350-degree F oven for 20-25 minutes.
• Cool completely before cutting into bars.

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Quinoa + Spinach Cakes

The only way my kids will eat quinoa is if I make quinoa cakes.

To try and make them eat more veggies, I made made these Quinoa + Spinach cakes.  They are tasty by themselves, but I drizzled on a dill sauce to make them look more appealing (and try to hide as much of the spinach as possible).

Quinoa cakes are really versatile - you can add shredded carrots or zucchini, corn, etc.

The Quinoa + Spinach Cakes were a hit with everyone in my family except for my youngest son, who tried to pick out whatever spinach he could see.

But at least he ate the quinoa!

Quinoa + Spinach Cakes

Ingredients:

• 3 c cooked quinoa
• 1 9 oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 3/4 c shredded chicken
• 1/2 c chopped onion
• 2 egg
• 1 c panko
• salt
• pepper
• 2 T vegetable oil

Instructions:

• Mix together the quinoa, spinach, shredded chicken, onion, eggs, panko.
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Form mixture into patties.
• Pan-fry in vegetable oil on medium-high heat until golden brown on each side (about 4-6 minutes each side).

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Quinoa Cakes with Chili Garlic Mayo and Furikake

I love making Quinoa Cakes.  They are super easy, and pretty much the only way my kids will eat quinoa.

I recently "experimented" with toppings, and it was one of the rare occasions that my experiment turned out really tasty.

After I made the quinoa cakes, I spread some chili garlic mayo on each cake, then sprinkled furikake.

They were so good!  My kids didn't eat the cakes with the chili garlic mayo since it was too spicy for them, but just a sprinkle of furikake on the quinoa cakes were good enough for them.

The recipe is pretty versatile too - you can add other veggies, meat, etc., - a great way to use up leftovers!

Quinoa Cakes with Chili Garlic Mayo and Furikake

Ingredients:

• 2 c cooked quinoa
• 3/4 c shredded chicken
• 1/2 c chopped onion
• 1 egg
• 3/4 c panko
• salt
• pepper
• 2 T vegetable oil
• 1 t chili garlic sauce
• 3 T mayo
• furikake

Instructions:

• Mix together the quinoa, shredded chicken, onion, egg, panko.
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Form mixture into patties.
• Pan-fry in vegetable oil on medium-high heat until golden brown on each side (about 4-6 minutes each side).
• Combine chili garlic sauce and mayo (you can add more chili garlic sauce if you prefer).
• Spread over quinoa cakes.
• Sprinkle furikake.

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