One of my goto side dishes is a cheesy broccoli rice which is super easy to make and downright tasty. Ever since I discovered that quinoa can be a good substitute for rice in a lot of dishes I have been slowly remaking a lot of my favourite rice dishes with quinoa and it was time to try a cheesy broccoli quinoa. Well my intention was to make a cheesy broccoli quinoa but I really couldn’t justify buying broccoli when I already had a bunch of zucchini in the fridge just waiting to be used in something and so I ended up making this cheesy zucchini quinoa. This side dish is just as easy to make as the original where you simply need to cook the quinoa and mix in the grated zucchini and cheese. Many different cheeses would work in this but I am rather partial to a nice sharp cheddar or gruyere.
Cheesy Zucchini Quinoa
A cheesy zucchini and quinoa side dish that is super easy to make and it is a great way to use some of the overflowing zucchini in your garden.
ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa, well rinsed
- 1 3/4 cups vegetable broth or water
- 1 medium zucchini, grated
- 1 cup cheddar, shredded
- salt and pepper to taste
directions
- Bring the quinoa and broth to a boil over medium heat, reduce the heat and simmer covered until the broth has been absorbed and the quinoa is tender,about 15-20 minutes.
- Remove from heat am mix in the zucchini, cheese, salt and pepper.
What a great idea to use quinoa like how you would prepare risotto! This inspires me to whip something like this up this week!
A delicious combination!
Cheers,
Rosa
Loooove how easy this is! And it looks so tasty!!
Sounds great and love the zucchini in there!
Lovely combinations. Awesome!! Sounds so yummmm!!!
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Quinoa is really amazing, it can take on so many different roles, from rice, to couscous, to my morning oatmeal!
What a delicious use of quinoa!
Oh, I am such cheese addict. This looks delicious!
This is definitely the perfect side to get non-veggie lovers to eat their veggies!
This is great. I would love to see more delicious combination on this site!
I feel like people do not add cheese to quinoa nearly enough. This looks SO awesome!
Sues
It looks like a delicious side dish… I love quinoa.
So simple and delicious! I used 3/4 cup of cheddar and it's great. Excellent way to use the zucchini in my freezer.
I love quinoa and using it instead of rice is a great idea. This would make a delicious weeknight dinner
This. Is. Fantastic. I made it on Tuesday and have been hogging the leftovers ever since. Every time I think about it, it gets me excited to try different kinds of cheese and vegetables in it, but then I think "why bother?" since the cheddar and zucchini version is so great.
Love, love, love it. Thank you!
Made this for dinner tonight and it was quite tasty. This is the first time I've mixed cheese and quinoa. I don't know why I never thought of that before but definitely use a good cheese and it will make the flavor great!
Just made it for dinner tonight. It was okay, I expected it to be a healthier substitute for Mac and cheese, but it tasted nothing like the classic dish. I might make it again, but as a side and lower my cheesy expectations.
Anonymous: I normally make this as a side dish but you could definitely add more cheese to make is cheesier like mac and cheese.
Made this tonight for dinner with hamburgers. Very tasty! I'll be making it again soon and maybe try it with steamed broccoli. Thank you!
Anonymous: Broccoli definitely works in this!
This sounds so good! I'll be it would be good done with hemp hearts. They have a nutty taste so much like quinoa, and they would pulll the carb count down so even a low-carber like me could enjoy this. I'm going to TRY it!
So the zucchini isn't cooked first?
Anonymous: I like the zucchini to be fresh but you could add it a little earlier and let it cook some with the quinoa. Since the zucchini is shredded it will warm when you add it just at the end and not get mushy. Enjoy!
I have very small zucchinis, could you tell me how many cups of grated zucchini, 1 medium is?
Thanks
Linda: About 1 to 2 cups. Enjoy!