Meatless Monday with Quinoa Spinach Bake

Hello and welcome to another Meatless Monday. As a green call centre, we support the Meatless Monday movement in support of reducing meat consumption to improve personal and planetary health.

On the menu tonight is a quinoa spinach bake that comes by way of Martha Stewart. This bake is nutritious, delicious and easy to make so let’s get cooking.
Ingredients
• 1 pound spinach, leaves picked and washed
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, peeled and diced
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 tablespoon picked fresh thyme leaves
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red-pepper flakes
• 2 cups cooked quinoa (about 1 cup uncooked quinoa), made according to package directions
• 1 cup nonfat cottage cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• Olive-oil cooking spray

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat an 8-by-8-inch glass or ceramic baking dish with olive-oil spray. Coat with breadcrumbs; set aside.
2. Fill a large bowl with ice and water; set aside. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add spinach; blanch until bright green, about 10 seconds. Transfer to ice bath. When spinach is cold, remove from ice bath, squeeze out all water, and finely chop; set aside.
3. Heat the olive oil in a medium saute pan. Add onion, garlic, thyme, rosemary, and red-pepper flakes, and saute until translucent, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat; transfer to a medium bowl.
4. Add spinach, quinoa, cottage cheese, pepper, and eggs to the onion mixture, and stir until well combined. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish, and place in the oven. Bake until set and edges are brown, 60 to 70 minutes. Slice, and serve warm or at room temperature.

The quinoa spinach bake serves four as main dish and eight as a side dish. This is wonderful low-fat, high protein alternative to Italian style fritattas or quiche. This quinoa spinach bake would work for breakfast, brunch, lunch or a light dinner and would make a great addition to any buffet as it’s just as good at room temperature. Also, leftovers will make for a delicious lunch. To complete the offering serve with a spinach salad or a leafy green salad dressed with a little olive oil and lemon.

If you haven’t already, we encourage you to visit the Meatless Monday site to learn more. Join the movement and promote going Meatless on Mondays to co-workers and make your green call centre, office, factory, shop or salon even greener.

Enjoy!