I’m guilty of taking bites of Ryder’s food while prepping his meals or picking at his leftovers without even realizing what I’m doing, but these broccoli protein bites are delicious and guilt free. Not only do I devour his crumbs, but these are a great snack to refuel between meals or while out and about. Lou munches on them when he gets late night cravings and at 23 calories and 2g of protein per bite, it’s a pretty good option.

Ryder is a huge fan of broccoli (or at least he is this week). I was inspired by these broccoli tots I found on gimmedelicious.com, but I wanted to make something with a little more protein. Ryder loved that it took me five batches over a two week period to perfect the recipe. Every time I pulled the container out of the fridge, he started pointing and shouting for them. Ryder gave his stamp of approval for each batch, but I continued to tweak them until the protein and fat breakdown was a better fit for my nutritional needs.

Bonus: If you haven’t read about my obsession for these Gluten Free Chicken and Quinoa Meatballs, this is the perfect opportunity to try both recipes, as they call for a few of the same ingredients and limit waste.

This recipe calls for two cups of chopped up broccoli florets, which takes about 3 – 4 large crowns to yield the right amount. I used to just toss out the stems, but recently started using them and they are delicious. Just blanch the whole broccoli – stems and crown and once cooled, separate the florets from the stem. The stems taste great chopped up, tossed with a little olive oil and baked @ 350F for 20 minutes. I also tried spiralizing the stems, then sautéing them with some pine nuts, parmesan and a squeeze of lemon juice – also delish.

Broccoli Protein Bites

Yield: 24 Bites

Prep time: 30 min

Cook time: 17 min

Each bite: 23 calories / 2g protein / 2 g carbs / 1g fat

• 1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons fresh raw parsley
• 12 oz bag of broccoli florets microwaved or blanched and chopped.
• 1/4 cup chopped yellow onion

• 1/3 cup mexican four cheese, shredded
• 3 eggs, whites only or 2 whole eggs (additional fat)
• 1/3 cup, almond meal
• 1/2 cup cooked quinoa (I use the Simple Truth organic frozen quinoa found at Ralph’s)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Spray a 24 mini muffin pan with a generous amount of canola oil (otherwise, bites will stick to sides of tin).
2. Add all ingredients and mix well with hands.
3. Fill mini muffin tin with mixture.
4. Bake @ 400F for 17 minutes
5. Allow to cool and enjoy!