Quinoa Breakfast Bake

Good morning! Happy St. Patrick's Day! While I should be posting some sort of ham or corned beef and cabbage recipe today, unfortunately I will not have the chance to make that this year. Last year I did ham and cabbage in my pressure cooker and it came out awesome! This year I have a birthday party to go to and then I am lucky enough to have a babysitter so I can go act out my Irish with my girlfriends.

This morning for breakfast, I am eating a quinoa bake. Quinoa is one of my new found healthy foods. I have been experimenting with it a little lately. I found the recipe for a quinoa bake online somewhere, and it is super simple. I love that it takes a side dish from dinner earlier in the week and turns it into a protein packed power breakfast.

What the heck is this quinoa anyway? First, I can bet you are saying the word wrong in your head as you read this. I did for weeks! Quinoa is not pronounced phonetically. KEEN-wa. I feel funny saying it sometimes, but there you have it. Quinoa is a reminiscent to a grain, but it is completely gluten free. It is actually more closely related to spinach and Swiss chard. It is one of the few (if not only) plant based foods that can be considered a complete protein, meaning it includes all the essential amino acids. Quinoa is a good choice for people considering going vegetarian but are nervous about lacking protein in their diet. It was considered the "gold of the Incas", because the tribe recognized its value in raising the stamina of its warriors. It is now known this is due to the large dose of the amino acid lysine, which is helpful in the healing and recovery of tissues. There are so many more benefits to this tiny crunchy little seed like kernel. Consumption of quinoa can help with migraines, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.

With that all said, it is pretty tasty if prepared right. The basic prep of quinoa is simple. For how ever many cups of raw quinoa you are cooking, use half that amount of water. Boil the water with the quinoa and then cover and simmer for 15 minutes until the water has absorbed. It cooks pretty much like rice, but in half the time! There are so many ways to change up this basic recipe. This week I switched out my water for vegetable broth and tossed in some diced up broccoli. The possibilities are endless. Plus you can find so many recipes for quinoa if you just look. Start with substituting it in any recipe that calls for rice. I used it in my stuffed tomatoes and I don't think I will ever go back to using rice for that one.

So back to breakfast. I basically made myself a baked omelet. I love doing this with eggs, because it does not have to be flipped or babysat at all. I used 2 egg whites and 1 full egg. This was a tip given to me by a friend who recently lost a lot of weight. Sometimes egg whites just don't hold up to the fillings of an omelet, so adding just one full egg will give you a little extra sustenance. I diced up half a tomato and used about half a cup of leftover quinoa. Beat it all together and popped it in the oven for about 20 minutes. Voila! A nice healthy (meatless) breakfast. This is one of my favorite breakfasts to make on the weekends. It is so simple and delicious. I don't notice the quinoa in the eggs very much when eating, it just gives the omelet a nice airy texture with all those added health benefits.