Recipe: Quinoa Protein Bites

It’s the weekend!

To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.

~ Winston Churchill

Happy Saturday all!

I hope you are all enjoying the start of a wonderful weekend as spring has officially sprung, our days are getting longer, and we are starting to plan for the spring and summer season ahead!

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m a reasonably busy gal…

“You too? I knew it!”

Eating well on limited time is always a challenge – especially when we want to be outside during the warmer months coming up.

Enter this recipe.

I make these little nuggets of pure complete plant protein and have them in the fridge to heat up (or eat cold) when I come in and need a quick healthy meal that will make me feel great. They are rock solid in a salad, or wrapped in a lightly heated corn tortilla and doused in this yummy cilantro sauce (an upcoming post!).

Quinoa is indeed an almost perfect food. I mean, it’s got it all, doesn’t it? Few are the foods which provide such solid nutritional sustenance and complete proteins while being tasty, light, easy to cook, and so versatile!

“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living.”

~ Dr. Seuss

The Less:

Less heavy protein from animal sources can add a little more (light) variety if you are an animal protein guy or gal. Less processed vegetarian ‘protein’ foods means cleaner, more accessible nutrition. Less worrying about complete proteins as vegetarian means more freedom in choosing your foods.

The More:

More complete protein means better all round nutrition in one stop. More nuts and grains means more grounding and more satisfying texture and flavor. More easy to eat homemade ‘convenience’ foods means easy snacking when time is tight. So make these almost perfect nuggets ahead of time and don’t look back!

Quinoa Protein Bites:

• (1) cup uncooked quinoa cooked in 1 3/4 cup cold water*
• (1) cup walnuts ground fine
• (2) tbsp chia seeds, soaked in 5 tbsp water (or sub one egg for the chia)
• (1) cup nut milk, soy milk, or regular milk
• (1/2) cup quick oats
• (2) tbsp Bragg’s Aminos or soy sauce
• (1) tsp salt
• (1) tsp cumin ground
• (2) tbsp chopped scallions/green onions/chives
• roasted sesame seeds to top the bites before baking (optional)
• olive oil for the pan

Put up the quinoa to cook by combining the water and quinoa in a pan. Cover the quinoa and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower the heat with the lid still on. Cook, covered, on low for 20-25 minutes.

While the quinoa cooks, soak your chia in a small bowl with the water. Stir after a minute to ensure the water and chia soak together evenly. Grind the walnuts, using either a hand grinder or the attachment to your hand blender (or your food processor 🙂 )

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Chop the scallions, and combine with the salt and cumin in a large mixing bowl.

Once your quinoa is cooked, add (1/2)-(3/4) of the cooked grain to a blender (or food processor – hehe) along with the soaked chia, nut milk, and Braggs or soy sauce. Blend to a paste, stirring as needed with a spatula.

Remove the mixture into the mixing bowl with the seasonings and follow with the remaining cooked quinoa, oats, and ground nuts.

Get in there and mix this with your hands – and have fun!

You should end up with a beautiful mix that will stick together beautifully to form wonderful round discs of protein madness (add oats if they are falling apart at all).

Oil a flat cookie pan with olive oil. Form your bites and add to the pan, one by one, mindfully (and don’t worry about them being perfect). Add sesame seeds to one side one by one with a little spoon if you like, it looks nice and they add a nice flavor.

Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes on each side, turning them over at the halfway mark. Remove from oven and cool! Voila! Perfect little protein bites.

These little guys will keep in the fridge for about a week and will also freeze well. To re-heat, you can fry them a little in a skillet, or bake them with or without cheese on top. Serve with any sauce you desire – they are shown here with a Jalapeno Cilantro sauce (posting soon and so good!).

I was pleasantly surprised to awake this morning to a similar post this morning from Emmy over at emmycooks – proving that there are so many great ways to use this grain and enjoy a little bit of perfect protein heaven – I love Emmy’s version as she makes a brilliant use of leftovers from a previous meal.

Of course if you have a favorite way to eat quinoa, I’d love to know…feel free to share your faves in the comments today!

Be intent upon the perfection of the present day.

~ William Law

• What does perfection mean to you?
• Are you a convert to quinoa?

I hope you all have a super mindful and deliciously fab weekend – and as always – I love to hear from you all!

As for me? I am off to get the new trowel (just a little) dirty for the 1st time this year…

Yours in Less,