A Cup of Catherine

Easy Cheesy Greek Quinoa Bake

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You guys, I had high hopes for this recipe we made a few weeks ago.

The recipe is from a cookbook for toddlers, so surely my toddler gobbled it up, right?

easy cheesy greek quinoa bake

Wrong.

He ate a tiny bite of the quinoa alone, but he wasn’t feeling the actual vegetables in it.

Story of my life!

We are seriously struggling getting this kid to eat. I know his pickiness and stubbornness are typical of his age and development, but I’d be lying if I told you it wasn’t frustrating as hell.

I love food, so I want my (underweight!!!) kid to love food—what’s so wrong with that?

Getting back to the dish—it’s extremely easy and customizable. The most “difficult” part is the chopping.

And even though Bazooka wasn’t a fan, this made a great weeknight dinner for Mark and me—plus a few lunches for work.

easy cheesy greek quinoa bake. it's toddler-friendly (just not for mine!)

Easy, Cheesy Greek Quinoa Bake*

Ingredients

  • 1 cup dry quinoa
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 cup sliced grape tomatoes
  • 1 cup roughly chopped artichoke hearts, rinsed and drained if using canned
  • 1 cup roughly chopped spinach, packed
  • 1 2¼-oz can sliced black olives, rinsed and drained
  • ½ red onion, finely diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • ½ lemon, juiced
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • ½ cup milk (we used 2%)
  • 1 cup crumbled feta
  • Italian seasoning, to taste
  • onion powder, to taste
  • salt & pepper, to taste
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella
  • dried (or fresh) parsley, to garnish

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 400 F and grease an 8×8 casserole dish with butter, oil, or cooking spray.
  • In a small saucepan, bring the water and quinoa to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for approximately 15 minutes (or until water is absorbed). Set aside.
  • In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, artichokes, spinach, onion, olives, milk, feta, garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil. Season (as desired) with salt, pepper, onion powder, and Italian seasoning. Add the cooked quinoa and mix thoroughly.
  • Pour the mixture into the baking dish. Top with the shredded mozzarella and dried parsley. Bake for 15-20 minutes until cheese is melted and dish is thoroughly heated. Allow to cool, then serve.

*slightly adapted from Little Foodie “Cheesy Greek Quinoa Bake” by Michelle Olivier & Sarah Peternell

easy cheesy greek quinoa bake

But there is some good news to this toddler recipe fail: I’m over my lukewarm relationship with quinoa!

I mean, I’ve never hated it, but I’ve always found quinoa to be bland and unexciting. Now I realize you just need to gussy it up with a bunch of bold vegetables and mounds of cheese. (I should have known this because cheese is the answer to many of life’s troubles, right?)

Now that I know how easy this is, I plan to try other combinations (broccoli and cheese?) in the future for easy dinners. And maybe, just maybe, I’ll stumble upon one the toddler approves of.

So tell me…

  • Do you like quinoa?
  • What’s your favorite quinoa recipe?
  • Olives—yay or nay?

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    2. I haven’t made quinoa in a while, but I’ve been loving rice lately…so similar, but not as good. My parents would always make us have a “no thank you helping” and try everything that was put on our plates. We weren’t allowed to leave the table until we ate it. This is probably why I was a fat child (just kidding, it was my tendency to eat frosting haha) but I like the concept of trying everything to be polite.

      • I have mixed feelings about that “no thank you helping.” I want to teach bazooka to TRY everything when it’s offered but I know I personally had such texture issues that I probably would’ve gotten sick if forced to eat certain things.
        And don’t feel bad – I used to just eat frosting too!

    3. Oooh yum!! I love quinoa. I like it with veggies and chicken/hummus/tuna on top. I bought these sweet potato quinoa cakes from whole foods that are so good. I also love quinoa burgers, but I don’t know how to make those haha. And olives=nay for me!

      • I love how versatile quinoa is…its warming up to me. I’ll have to search your blog for quinoa recipes – do you have any?

    5. Yum! This looks delicious and I love quinoa (and olives!). I make dishes like this often (and yes, broccoli with cheese and quinoa is a good one too!). Have you heard of the Quinoa 365 cookbook? It’s one of my absolute favorites and I haven’t made one bad recipe out of it. There’s a recipe in it for Tina casserole that is the best!

    7. Mediterranean inspired dishes are easily one of my favorite flavor palettes and this looks delicious! I’m actually not sure if I’ve ever had quinoa before, but this looks like the perfect way to try it out. 🙂