Cheesy Hashbrown Potatoes {With Quinoa}

Welcome to another healthy family cookin' post.  I'm getting a bit behind on my posting and I have lots of recipes waiting in the wings to make it on here. I've been discovering so many wonderful recipes that I can't wait to share, but I feel like there's never quite enough time in the day. :) Ever feel that way? Well, anyway. Today I'm so excited to share this one with you. This is another, "I've-been-waiting-a-long-time-for-you" kind of recipe. So happy it came into my life.

Every now and then you need a yummy potato side dish to go with a delicious main dish. Potatoes are cheap and "comfort-foody". I love to pair potatoes with cooked white quinoa in my potato side dishes to increase their nutrition even more. White quinoa is the perfect choice because it's color makes it easy to disguise to unsuspecting persons (a.k.a. kids or other picky eaters). Adding the white quinoa adds a perfect protein to this dish. As well as all kinds of other nutrition that you can read about in quinoa's meet new foods spotlight.

This recipe is perfect to serve as a breakfast or breakfast-for-dinner side dish. It also accompanies meat main dishes very well (we served this with ham on Easter this year). I've served this with this fish and roasted squash dish that I absolutely adore (I used hubbard quash instead of butternut this time - oh my! Yum). Anyway you go, you can't go wrong with this recipe. It's versatile and wonderful. It will appear again and again on our dinner table. I hope your family enjoys it too.

Cheesy Hashbrown Potatoes {With Quinoa}
Printable Recipe

*Serves 8-10

*Note: I sometimes halve this recipe to serve with my family of 4. Just halve all ingredients and bake in a 9x9 square pan. It works great!

INGREDIENTS:
8-9 medium/large potatoes
1/4 Cup white quinoa
2 Cups shredded cheese of your choice (My choice would be a cheddar/jack blend)
2 Cups milk
4 Tbsp. butter
1-1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
Shredded Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Wash and scrub potatoes. Cook potatoes according to one of the following methods of your choice.

Pressure Cooker Method (My first choice of course):
Add whole, unpeeled potatoes to pressure cooker along with 1-2 cups of water. Cook on high pressure for 2 minutes (for large potatoes cook for 3 minutes). Release pressure naturally.

Boiling Method:
Place whole, unpeeled potatoes in a large pot of boiling water. Boil for about 15 minutes, or just until potatoes are starting to get tender.

While potatoes are cooking, cook 1/4 cup quinoa in small pot with 1/2 to 2/3 cup water. Start with 1/2 cup water and add more if needed during the cooking process. Heat quinoa and water to boiling and then turn heat down to a simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes or until quinoa is tender and displays a white curl from the seeds. If you have two pressure cookers, you can also cook quinoa in the pressure cooker. It cooks in 6 minutes on high pressure and I use a 1:2 ratio of quinoa to water.

When potatoes are done cooking rinse in cold water and peel. The skins should peel easily with a little bit of pressure. Cool and dry the potatoes. Once the potatoes are dry, grate them with a cheese grater so they resemble hashbrowns.

Place shredded potatoes and cooked white quinoa in a 9x13 pan. Sprinkle with shredded cheese and stir lightly to combine. Heat milk, butter, salt, and pepper in a separate pan until butter is melted. Pour over the potato/cheese mixture. Sprinkle generously with Parmesan cheese.

Bake 350 F for 50-60 minutes, or until cheese is browned. You can also broil the top for a couple of minutes if you want the extra burnt cheese flavor (mmmh...burnt cheese...). Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Recipe Source: Adapted from Money Saving Mom, added white quinoa, pressure cooker method and pepper.