Baked Quinoa Mac And Cheese
This baked quinoa mac and cheese brings the comfort food back from childhood with some hidden vegetables.
Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa uncooked
- 2 c butternut squash frozen or fresh
- 1 1/2 c cheddar cheese any variety
- 1/2 c milk any variety
- 1/2 tsp mustard powder or use regular
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- salt & pepper
- 1 bunch kale chopped, *optional
- 4 chicken sausages precooked, sliced and halved, *optional
Instructions
Cook Quinoa & Squash
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook quinoa according to directions. Otherwise: bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Rinse quinoa. Add quinoa to boiling water and lower heat to low. Let simmer, covered, for 12 minutes. Turn off the burner and let it sit covered for another 5 minutes. Drain excess water if necessary.
Cook Squash & Kale
- Boil or steam squash and kale according to your preferences. It should be soft enough to blend. I prefer to saute kale in a pan for a few minutes For squash, I boil in water for a few minutes until fork tender.
Make Cheese Sauce
- Blend the cooked squash, cheese, milk, seasonings, and salt and pepper to taste. Add any other seasonings you need or more cheese, if you prefer. I use a food processor. You can also use a blender.
Combine Ingredients
- In a large bowl, put in the cooked quinoa, cooked kale, cheese sauce, and chicken sausages. Mix all these together.
Bake Mac And Cheese
- Place the mixture into a pan of around 8x8 or 9x9. Spread even. Bake for about 30 minutes. Shred additional cheese on top if you love cheese.
Notes
You don't have to use chicken sausages or kale. If you like to keep it plain, just add the sauce to the quinoa. It can also be eaten without baking, I just prefer it to set up more. You can use non-dairy milk if needed and any other variety of cheese. I'm not sure what plain squash taste like if you skip cheese, but I'm sure it's not bad!