Pizza Quinoa Bites

Welcome back to PorrazzaNutrition! Today, I want to share with you a recipe I just revamped from my old cooking files. I have been trying to weed through my collection of recipes to figure out the ones I actually use and those I was just hoarding :) I am challenging myself to 1 day per week where I try new recipes and incorporate the tasty ones into my weekly meals or party rotation (since I usually bring healthy dishes wherever I go). My challenge to you this month is to get in the kitchen and try a new recipe or revamp (in a healthy way) an old one from your collection!

Pizza Quinoa Bites

Ingredients
1 cup uncooked quinoa
1/2 cup low salt tomato sauce **
1.5 cups water
1 small onion, diced
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 flax eggs **
1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
1/2 cup grape tomatoes, diced
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 cup nutritional yeast **
Dash of salt and pepper

Directions
1. In a large pot, bring to a boil quinoa, tomato sauce, and water. Lower and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. In a small saucepan, saute onion and garlic in olive oil for 3-5 minutes over medium-low heat.
4. In a large bowl, mix together onion/garlic, quinoa, flax eggs, basil, tomatoes, Italian seasoning, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper. Adjust seasonings to your taste.
5. Form mixture into bite-sized patties and place on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Flip and bake for an additional 5 minutes (or broil for 1-2 minutes for crispier patties). Serve with fresh tomato sauce.

**Recipe Notes
-No-salt-added crushed tomatoes can be used in place of tomato sauce.
-To make a single flax egg, which is a replacement for 1 whole egg, simply mix 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseeds with 3 tablespoons of water. Double to make the two needed for this recipe.
-Nutritional yeast is a substitute for dairy-cheeses and can be found online or at most health-food stores.