Roasted Tomato Marinara & Cheesy Quinoa Bites

Phew! What a crazy week it's been! So much was going on and then to make it more crazy, my computer , which has been on it's last leg for a while, finally bit the dust. It was time to retire the old model and now I'm back with a sleek new machine ready for sharing more of the things that I've been up to. I hope you all had a wonderful week!

This post is specifically for a sister of mine who posed a question on Facebook the other day, "If you had lots of ripe tomatoes, what would you make?" I was one of several people who answered with ideas and when I mentioned "cheesy quinoa bites", I had a few requests for the recipe. So, here it is! Plus, I threw in one of my favorite ways to use lots of ripe tomatoes as well: roasted tomato marinara, which just happens to go extremely well with the quinoa bites. I love that most of the ingredients to these came right out of my garden! Even the egg is from our ducks! I love having a garden!

I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as my family has! We've eaten this twice in the past 4 days!

Roasted Tomato Marinara:
This recipe takes a little time, but is simple and easily adaptable. I'm sorry to say that this is one of those annoying recipes without clear measurements. The fact is, I have never stopped to measure how many tomatoes I use and it varies a lot since I'm using a variety of shapes and sizes right out of my garden. I just chop enough to fill my glass casserole dish. I hope that doesn't throw anyone off. The secret ingredient to this delicious sauce is a tiny bit of 100% pure oregano essential oil. Wow! After making it using the oil, I will never go back! The flavor is superb and it only uses a very small amount of the oil. A little goes a long way, so don't over do it.

Add to a 2 QT glass casserole dish:
1/2 medium onion chopped (more if you really like onions!)
Ripe tomatoes, chopped (Enough to evenly fill the dish)
Drizzle with olive oil
Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper

Stir to evenly distribute the olive oil. Roast, uncovered at 350F for approx. 45 minutes or until everything is bubbly and a few tomato skins are beginning to darken. Drain away the liquid. The more liquid you drain, the thicker your sauce will be. Freeze the left over liquid to use in other recipes later if you'd like. That's what I did! Let tomatoes and onions cool.

In a food processor blend well:
tomato and onion mixture
A handful of fresh basil
1 or 2 drops of  pure oregano essential oil (It's very strong, so start with one!)

Enjoy immediately, or store short term in the fridge, or long term in the freezer. I love freezing a batch in ice cube trays (then transferring to a big freezer bag). It's easier to use that way and very handy if you need just a little bit of sauce. I use this for a multitude of uses including: dipping sauce, pasta sauce, pizza sauce, etc.

Cheesy Quinoa Bites:
This recipe has actual measurements! It is so easy to make and I am regularly mixing it up with different add-ins. With the marinara sauce, I wanted something that would compliment, but not over power. These are perfect! I like to munch them plain as well. They make a tasty snack!

Heaping 1/2 C finely chopped sweet peppers. I used both red and green
1 sprig fresh basil chopped
1 egg
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 1/2 C cooked and cooked quinoa

Mix everything together until well incorporated. Arrange spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. You can also put them into mini cupcake pans, but I prefer the cookie sheet method. Bake in the oven at 350F for approximately 20 minutes or until browned on the edges. Serve warm.

Linking up to these great blogs:

Clever Chicks Blog Hop at The Chicken Chick

Sunday Linky at Suburbs Mama

Silver Pennies Sundays at Finding Silver Pennies

Super Sunday at Who Needs a Cape
Manic Monday at Serendipity & Spice
Monday Funday at Lines Across
Mostly Homemade Mondays at Homegrown & Healthy
What'd You Do This Weekend at The Tumbleweed Contessa
The Garden Party at An Oregon Cottage
Rock N Share at the Shady Porch
The Backyard Farming Connection
Tuesdays With a Twist at Stone Cottage Adventures
Allergy Free Wednesdays at Tessa The Domestic Diva
Gluten Free Wednesdays at Gluten Free Homemaker
Down Home Blog Hop at Tilly's Nest
Waste Not Want Not Wednesday at Poor And Gluten Free
Home & Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life
Treasure Hunt Thursday at From my Front Porch to Yours
HomeAcre Hop at Black Fox Homestead
Lovely Ladies Linky at Life With The Crust Cut Off
Farm Girl Friday at The Dandelion House
Gluten Free Fridays at Vegetarian Mama
Feature Friday at Blissful and Domestic
From the Farm Blog Hop at Sunny Simple Life
Simply Natural Saturdays at The Pistachio Project

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