Welcome to “Quinoa Week”!
Recently it seems a lot of FPIES Mama’s have been finding luck with quinoa as a safe food for their kiddos. Since then, I’ve been asked to share any “simple” quinoa recipes I have, and I understood the need. When trialing single ingredients at a time, it’s sometimes difficult to find ways to present the food.
Once quinoa was a safe food for us, I began experimenting with ways to make it for Zac.
It was a bit of a challenge to create recipes using only water and quinoa! That’s all he had as safe foods at the time, and there’s just not a lot of options there!
Some of the things I’ve created that were huge hits for Zac were very difficult to describe. Is it a tortilla? A sopapilla? A flatbread?
I never posted those recipes because of their unusual nature.
Thanks to the request for more recipes, though, I’m going to do my best.
This is one I’ve been making for at least six months. Darrel and I have always called it “tortillas”, but it really isn’t a tortilla at all.
Trying to come up with a name for it for the purpose of sharing it, we settled on “quinoa drops”.
It’s simple, filling, and pretty tasty even as plain as it is!
I’m sure if you could add some fruit or veggie purees, or maybe even shredded meat, it would work just as well. If you try that, let me know how it comes out, okay?
Take a cup of cooked quinoa and add it to your blender.
Pour in 1/2 cup of water. Process.
Depending on the moisture content of the quinoa, sometimes I only need 1/2 cup of water. Sometimes I need more.
I look for a batter that is thick but still pourable. Think thick pancake batter texture.
Scoop or pour it into twelve little circles on a parchment lined cookie sheet, and bake.
These usually puff up quite a bit while baking. The inside is cooked, but still moist. Some people may not like that. Zac doesn’t have a problem with it at all!
I’ve tried poking them with a fork, flipping them, peeling them in half and baking the two halves separately, and basically, they still come out with a moist center!
After being baked for 30 minutes…
You can avoid some of this “inner moistness” if you make much smaller little drops; 24 on a tray instead of 12. Frankly, for me? I do too much cooking every day to put that much energy into it when Zac obviously doesn’t have a problem with them as-is!
Flipped and baked another 15 minutes…
This isn’t a typical “Oh, you must add this to your family recipe book” recipe; it has potential with other additions to be a good snack food, but as it is, its real purpose is as a “food trial” recipe.
That has its use, though, so feel free to take this and run with it! If you come up with any additions or variations that rock, please share!
Finished!
(And in a pinch, it CAN work as a sandwich bread substitute for lightweight things. Like a smear of sunbutter or jelly, or part of an egg.)
Mini Egg Sandwiches!
Enjoy your food trial Quinoa Drops!
- 1 c. cooked quinoa
- ½ c. water or milk
- Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Put the quinoa and water in a blender.
- Process until smooth.
- Add more water as needed; it needs to be a thick pancake batter consistency.
- Spoon or pour onto a parchment lined cookie sheet.
- Bake for 30 minutes; flip the drops over and bake for another 15 minutes.
- Enjoy your easy snack!
I’m going to try these for my family, and we don’t have the allergies you do! I’m gluten free and the rest of the house is gluten light. I try to use a variety of foods now instead of *always* using wheat-based products. I’m looking for a chipy, crackery, bready food that is easy. This looks super easy. Thanks
That’s awesome, Amy! I hope they work well for you and that you like them. 🙂
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Thank you Carrie! Tried these today and Gracie LOVES them! I added apples to the blender and some quinoa flour because I added to much water. Came out really good! I am not a wiz in the kitchen and these are a wonderful help! I am trailing Egg this weekend and looking forward to making egg bread and the meat balls!
Stacy, that’s awesome! Thank you for sharing this with me!
You know, I bet you didn’t actually add too much water; probably the apples added extra moisture. I’m glad the flour addition evened it out and that it worked so well! Probably I would agree with Gracie that these tasted great with those apples added. 🙂
Hope the egg trial goes well! Let me know, okay? Hugs and good luck!
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Just made these tonight with homemade applesauce and coconut milk instead of water. I tried one myself and it’s pretty tasty! Can’t wait to see if she likes them in the morning. Thanks SO much for this idea, I’m always looking for finger foods.
Oh, yay! And yum – that sounds delicious. 🙂 Hope she likes them as much as you do. I appreciate the feedback, Liz! Happy cooking!
I made these today. They are a perfect way for my daughter to enjoy her only safe food! I am just curious how you store these and for how long they generally stay fresh. Thanks!
I’m so happy your daughter liked them!
Honestly, I never had to worry much about storage. He would eat the whole batch in one day, so we just left them on the counter.
If I were to try and keep these for longer than two days, I’d recommend in a pyrex container with a lid in the fridge. You might also try freezing them; I don’t know exactly how well that would work, but I know both my kiddos enjoy eating pancakes right out of the freezer. Could be a useful teething device!
Wondering if anyone ever found a way to store these?
No one has said anything that I know of, but my kiddo always ate them so fast we never needed to store them. If I had any leftover from one day to the next, I kept them in an airtight container in the fridge. Hope that helps!
Making these for shabbat tonight! (Can’t you tell we have lots of food options in this house lol). Thanks so much for posting the 1-3 ingredient recipes. They make food trails so much tastier and easier.
My great pleasure, Esther!!