Black Bean Quinoa Egg Bake

Breakfast is the world’s greatest meal–this is because it’s the one meal where you’ll have more leeway to eat more food. Have you ever heard of the saying eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper? It basically means that your largest meal should be your breakfast and your smallest meal should be dinner. This is because when you have a large breakfast, you will still have all day to use up the energy. This doesn’t mean eat a whole pizza for breakfast, but it does mean that you can eat more. If you were to eat a large meal at dinner, the likelihood of the excess energy being stored as fat in your body is extremely high because you’ll only have a few hours to use it up before bedtime.

This past Sunday I woke up early to whip up this Black Bean Quinoa Egg Bake. I know. I don’t sleep much, which isn’t a good thing. I just always have too many things I want and need to do, so I choose to sacrifice sleep. My brain currently needs some serious repair, and so I’m probably going to catch some Z’s in a little bit…I’m just waiting for tomorrow’s breakfast to finish baking. Anyways, onto this protein rich (all of the amino acids you need), flavorful, and nutritious breakfast.

I’m quite proud of the ingredients set up and natural lighting. Cooking takes way longer now that I photograph everything!

That’s how I chose to slice the potatoes.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cooked black beans
• 1 cup cooked quinoa
• 5 eggs
• 1/3 cup milk
• 3 yukon golden potatoes
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 cup baby spinach (packed)
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• salt/garlic salt and pepper to taste
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese
• A few Tbsp of freshly chopped green onions

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

1. In a small pot, boil the potatoes for about 10 minutes (until potatoes are tender) and then cut them into thin slices once they’ve cooled.
2. In a small-medium pan, heat olive oil and sautee the garlic until it’s slightly browned and fragrant. Add the black beans and quinoa and stir together over medium heat. Season with thyme, oregano, garlic salt, and pepper. Turn off heat and set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs with milk and season with salt and pepper. Add more thyme and oregano if you’d like.
4. Lightly oil a baking dish and then cover the bottom with the sliced potatoes. Pour the black bean and quinoa mixture over the potatoes and spread evenly. Arrange the spinach over the quinoa and black beans. Pour the whisked eggs over everything.
5. Sprinkle the cheddar cheese over the top, cover with foil and bake for about 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for a few more minutes to allow the cheese to brown (insert knife to check if it’s cooked, if not, bake for longer). To some extent this is quite dependent on how powerful your oven is. Once it’s out of the oven, you can top with the sliced green onions.

Trust me, this is delicious. It tastes great hot out of the oven and right out of the fridge! I just love all of the different layers of food and how colorful this dish is. Let me know what you all think if you try making it!

Okay, I’m off to bed. This is the most sleep I’ll have all week and I was super productive today! I graded 2 stacks of assignments, sliced a bunch of paper, and cooked. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to exercise (which might be why I’m getting to bed a bit earlier than usual). Like I said, the struggle of a balanced life is…well…a struggle…I’m still figuring out the key to it all. Any tips?

Enjoyed this? Try my Baked Egg in Avocado! Eggs are so ‘eggsilent’. (Get it?)