Buffalo Quinoa Bites

Buffalo Quinoa Bites

Ingredients

Makes about 30-32 quinoa bites

Quinoa bites

2 cups / 11 oz / 300 gr cooked quinoa (you’ll need to cook about 1 cup of quinoa)

4 free-range organic eggs, lightly beaten

3 tablespoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

½ teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon paprika

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

1 cup / 3.5 oz / 100 gr breadcrumbs (I used Gillian’s gluten-free breadcrumbs)

30 ½-inch cubes mozzarella

Sauce

½ stick / 4 oz / 113 gr butter

½ cup hot sauce (I used Frank’s Red Hot)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Combine quinoa, eggs, tomato paste, salt, garlic powder, paprika, and black pepper into a bowl.

Add breadcrumbs and stir in well. Let mixture sit for a couple of minutes so that the breadcrumbs can absorb the moisture.

Scoop 1 heaping tablespoon of quinoa mixture and with dampened hands make quinoa balls - placing one cube of mozzarella into the middle of the ball and forming a smooth ball around the mozzarella. Repeat to form about all quinoa bites.

Place quinoa bites onto the lined baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.

In the meantime make the sauce. Combine the hot sauce and butter in a small saucepan on medium heat (or place in a microwave safe bowl for 2 minutes on high).

After 15 minutes, remove baking sheet from the oven, gently turn quinoa bites (they should have browned a little) and top with buffalo sauce.

Put back in the oven and bake for another 8 minutes.

Serve hot (with celery sticks and blue cheese dip if you want to be authentic).