I’ve had this recipe pinned for I can’t even tell you how long and I’ve had a box of quinoa just sitting in my pantry and since we are trying to be a little better about using what we have and cutting our grocery bill to mostly fresh vegetables and fruit, this recipe seemed perfect.

This recipe is vegetarian. You can find it HERE and while the original recipe calls this cheesy quinoa bites… the cheese is more of a binding element than a major taste. So, this recipe was helpful because it gave me the excuse to make some extra quinoa to turn into a taco salad with black beans and the extra veggies left over from this recipe. This also called to mind how bad my speed is when it comes to chopping- though part of that is definitely running food for my toddler and putting out tantrums. But even all things considered, my chopping skills are SLOW, possibly because chopping veggies is a very zen and calming experience for me so I never actually feel pulled to learn how to speed up.

Once I had a very colorful collection of ingredients, Iadded the eggs and mixed it all together. I was excited to use my mini muffin pan which does not get much use since we devour full sized muffins here… until I realized I would need 2.5 batches since I only have one mini muffin pan. So it became a much longer project than I originally anticipated (so much for nap time productivity!)

Cute little delicious bites! Next time I’m also adding red pepper…

The quinoa bites came out filling, good, but a little bland… I probably would have salted the mixture a little more but since everything was already cooked, I just added hot sauce and had a very happy lunch! I actually tried three bites with three different hot sauces- Cholula, Siracha, and Tapatio- Cholula won for me but they were all good choices.

I’m interested to see how these taste cold as well as how they taste re-heated. I’m looking for good on the go meals for once rehearsals start so any favorite simple, transportable recipes that don’t need to be heated are requested and suggestions welcome! I am feeling confident that my next recipe I try may be one great option, but I’d love 4-5 to keep me from eating out next month.