Easy Cheezy Quinoa Veggie Bake

It's been rainy, stormy, and cold in LA this week (shocking, I know), so when I got home from work last night I was craving something filling and warm. Because I'm going home next week for the holidays, my grocery list and pantry are pretty limited.

But then I saw it! My bag of quinoa, my chopped kale, my broccoli, my tomatoes, my Daiya cheese! It dawned on me...I could make a pretty stellar Cheezy Quinoa Veggie Bake that would not only be the warm and filling meal I was craving, but would also be packed with protein and nutrients.

This was my first time making a quinoa bake so it wasn't perfect but man oh man it was tasty! This was super quick and easy to make. I'll definitely be using this recipe again in the future!

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Easy Cheezy Quinoa Veggie Bake

2-3 servings

1 cup of uncooked quinoa
2 cups of vegetable broth
2 cups of broccoli
2 cups of chopped kale
a handful of chopped cherry tomatoes
1 cup of Daiya Cheddar Style Shreds
No-Salt Seasoning, to taste
Salt and Pepper, to taste
Onion Powder, to taste
Olive oil, drizzle

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium sized pot, bring one 1 cup of quinoa and 2 cups of vegetable broth to a boil. Cover and let simmer for 15 minutes, or until quinoa is fluffy and tender and the broth has been absorbed. In a medium saucepan, cover the 2 cups of chopped, bite-size broccoli with a layer of water. Cover and let simmer for 6-7 minutes, or until broccoli is steamed and tender. While the quinoa and broccoli are cooking, chop your cherry tomatoes. I chopped them in half because I like them in big pieces, but they would be good quartered, too.

Once the quinoa and broccoli are cooked, remove from heat. Pour the quinoa in a glass baking dish (I used a deeper 6"-11" baking dish, but a shallow one would work well, too). Top the quinoa with the veggies, starting with the kale, then the tomatoes, then the broccoli. Season the veggies according to your taste with the salt, pepper, no-salt seasoning, and onion powder. Top the quinoa and veggies with the Daiya Cheddar Style Shreds.

This is where I would change a couple things. Prior to adding the cheese, I mixed my quinoa, veggies, and seasoning all together and then added a layer of the Daiya Cheese on top. When it was finished, though, it was not a slice of a quinoa casserole, like I hoped it would be. I'd recommend thoroughly mixing the Daiya Cheese in with the veggies and quinoa, and then topping the dish with more Daiya shreds so it comes out more as a casserole and less as a loose quinoa dish. Your choice though!

Before putting it in the oven, drizzle with a little olive oil paying close attention to any kale leaves that might be on top as they'll burn in the oven without some olive oil to moisten them up. Cover with foil, bake for 15-20 minutes, and enjoy! I served mine with a frozen Trader Joe's Masala Veggie Burger patty and it was super yummy!

This dish would also be really delicious topped with avocado but sadly for me, I didn't have any :(