Blanch and shock the broccoli: Prepare an ice bath by filling a large bowl with ice water - set aside. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and season with 1 teaspoon of salt. Add the broccoli and blanch the florets for 1 minute. Immediately drain the florets in a colander and transfer to the bowl of ice water. Allow the florets to sit, submerged, in ice bath for 1 minute to stop the cooking process. Place the broccoli florets back in the colander to drain well. Transfer florets to a paper towel lined work surface. Pat very dry.
Chop broccoli florets: Once the broccoli is completely dry, use a sharp Chef's knife to chop the florets into fine pieces. Transfer the broccoli to a large mixing bowl.
Combine tot mixture: Add the remaining ingredients - egg, egg white, cheese, green onion, Italian seasoning and cayenne to the bowl. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Mix well to combine. Set aside.
Prepare the Coating: Set out three small bowls. In the first, combine the flour with the salt and pepper. In the second bowl beat eggs with 2 tablespoons of water. Place the cooked quinoa in the third bowl.
Form and Coat the Tots: Use an ice cream scoop or tablespoon measure to spoon roughly 1 ½ -2 tablespoons of broccoli mixture into your hands (It helps if you spray your hands with nonstick cooking spray). Squeeze broccoli mixture together to shape into tater tots.*
Roll tots in flour, then egg, and finally quinoa, making sure to thoroughly coat tots. Transfer coated tots onto prepared baking sheet.* Spray the tots, generously, with cooking spray.
Bake, turning half way through cooking time, for 18-20 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked throughout.
Serve: Transfer hot broccoli tots to a serving platter. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce or Monterey Jack Queso (recipe in notes). Enjoy!
Notes
Dry florets: You want to make sure the broccoli florets are very dry before chopping up into little pieces. To quickly dry out your broccoli, use the oven! While the water is coming to a boil (to cook the broccoli), preheat your oven to the lowest temperature possible. Once preheated, turn it off. Continue with the recipe - blanch, shock and drain the broccoli. Then, arrange the broccoli on a paper-towel lined baking sheet and place in the semi-warm oven to completely dry.
Chopping broccoli: I recommend hand chopping the florets, you don't need to be perfect - just aim for fine pieces. Alternatively, you can use the food processor; however, be very careful to only pulse a few times as it's easy to over-process the broccoli into mush.
Forming tots: When forming your tots make sure you really squeeze and press the ingredients together in your hands to get them to stick and stay together. I typically form a ball, then shape the ball into a little tot or nugget if you prefer.
Chill the UNCOATED tots! After you form the broccoli and cheese tots, but before you coat them in flour, egg and quinoa, I highly recommend you refrigerate them for at least 30 minutes. The short chill really helps the tots retain their shape and hold together as you roll them around in flour and egg to coat them in quinoa.
Monterey Jack Queso:
1 TBS Butter
1/2 small Yellow Onion - finely dice
1 large Jalapeno - seeds and ribs removed; finely diced
2 cloves Garlic - peel and mince
Salt and Pepper - to taste
1 TBS All Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup Milk - or more to taste
1 Cup Monterey Cheese - shredded or grated (12 ounces)
Melt butter in a medium sized saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and jalapeno. Season with salt and pepper. Sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds- 1 minute. Sprinkle flour over veggies and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Reduce heat to low and stir in 1/2 cup of milk. Add the cheese and stir. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the cheese is fully melted. Taste and adjust for seasoning. If your queso is too thick, thin it out by stirring in more milk, 1 tablespoon at a time.Recipe Yield: approximately 22-24 TotsNutritional information is an approximation based upon 24 servings (1 tot per serving). Exact information will depend upon the brands of ingredients and precise measurements used.