Butternut Spiced Quinoa Balls

This original recipe is from Kids Spot. I thought they were a bit bland but my 18 month old loved them. There's not reason why you couldn't swap the butternut for acorn squash or sweet potato.
This recipe made quite a big batch so uncooked ones can go in the freezer, separated at first but once frozen into a ziplock bag.

Butternut Spiced Quinoa Balls

Ingredients

1/2 butternut pumpkin (cut into wedges, seeded)
1 tbs olive oil
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 cup quinoa
1 cup broccoli (broken into florets)
1 red onion (finely grated) (I used regular onion and cooked it first)


Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350F) and line 2 baking trays with baking paper.
Put the pumpkin into a bowl, add the olive oil and spices and toss to coat.
Arrange the pumpkin in a single layer on a lined tray and bake, turning halfway through cooking, for 25 minutes or until soft and caramelised.
Remove from the oven and set aside until cool enough to handle.
Meanwhile, place the quinoa in a fine-meshed sieve and rinse thoroughly under cold running water. Transfer to a heavy-based saucepan, add 1 cup (250 ml) water and bring to the boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
Turn off the heat and set aside, without lifting the lid, for 4 minutes.
Fluff the quinoa with a fork and leave to cool.
Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil. Add the broccoli and cook for 2 minutes or until tender. Drain well.
Scoop the pumpkin flesh from the skin and place in a bowl.
Squeeze the liquid from the grated onion and use paper towel to pat the onion dry.
Add the onion, broccoli and quinoa to the pumpkin and mash together until well combined.
Dollop teaspoon-sized balls of mixture onto the remaining lined tray.
Bake the balls, turning halfway through cooking, for 30 minutes or until golden brown.