Quinoa Breakfast Mini-Muffins

I can’t tell you how many people I have made this for who immediately ask for the recipe. I have served these for breakfast and for appetizers and we have even had them as an afternoon snack.

This recipe is pretty simple, but does takes a little bit of time. I could say a ton more about this yummy recipe but I think I will just get right to it.

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INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup white or tri-color quinoa

(when cooked, it should be about 2 cups)

2 eggs

2 egg whites

1 1/4 cup zucchini - shredded

2 - 4 cloves of garlic

1 cup shredded mozzarella

1/2 cup diced black forest ham

1/4 cup sliced green onions

a pinch of pepper

*Optional

1/2 TB of Parsley

1/4 cup diced leeks

**you shouldn't need any salt for this recipe because of the ham, cheese and if you cook the quiona in chicken or vegetable broth.

Makes about 35 mini muffins.

Directions:

First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. If you already have cooked quinoa, skip the first section.

I can’t believe how many people cook their rice or their quinoa in water. This is a fabulous opportunity to add in some more flavor - consider using broth! I prefer to use chicken broth in this recipe, but you can use vegetable broth if you are a vegetarian. Just cook your quinoa for this recipe as directed on the box/bag of your quinoa using broth instead of water. Remember to rinse the quinoa before you cook it.

Once your quinoa is done, or while it’s cooking, you can prepare the rest of the recipe.

Measure out and dice ham, shred zucchini and mozzarella cheese.

Slice green onions, chop the garlic and by now, your quinoa should be done. (Tip - my mother taught me at a young age to cut green onions with clean kitchen sciscors! It is so much easier to bunch them together and use scissors than a knife),

Put all ingredients into a large mixing bowl and add the eggs.

Spray a mini-muffin tin with cooking spray and spoon the mixture into each spot until it reaches the top. To make it easier, use a cookie scoop.

Bake them at 350 degrees for about 18 minutes or until the edges appear golden. As hard as it is to wait, let them sit for 3-5 minutes before popping them out and onto a plate.

WARNING: Once you pop one in your mouth, you wont be able to stop.

Side note... according to MyFitnessPal (you can get it on the App Store), each of these delicious mini muffins has 8g of carbs - which isn't crazy bad.

If you want a low carb version, try out the cauliflower rice version (RECIPE HERE). The low carb version using cauliflower has 0.8g of carbs per mini muffin. I say that is pretty awesome!

#eggs #quinoa #breakfast #appetizer #snacks