Quinoa Casserole

Yes friends, quinoa casserole. A.K.A. time to clean out the fridge to make room for Thanksgiving. A.K.A. I’m going to make this all winter long because it’s so damn good!

I was researching Meatless Monday recipes for Fall and came across quinoa casseroles.  Turns out this is a very popular and varied dish, ranging from creamy buffalo chicken to vegan “cheesy” broccoli flavors.  It called to me, “You must make me!! I am delicious!”.

And it was…

Also calling to me were the veggies in the fridge begging to be used to make space for Thanksgiving veggies and I was loaded with baby mixed power greens, cremini mushrooms, bell peppers, cauliflower and two lonely chives about to be past their prime.

Many of the recipes I researched were very creamy and/or cheesy (as casseroles often are).  I wanted to capture the heartiness and creaminess without it being excessively milky or cheesy.  The magical combo was achieved with the addition of a little flour and a split of using stock and milk for the liquid. Don’t worry cheese lovers, you’ll get your fix.

Same goes for meat lovers! Although this version doesn’t have a morsel of meat, you could easily add sausage or chicken or ground beef/turkey, vegan ground round if you want heartier sans meat.  I had some tofu, so that was my “meat” contribution.

Servings: 6 | Difficulty: Easy | Preptime: 10 min | Cook time 30 min

Calories: 368 | Protein: 21 g | Fat: 19 g | Carbs: 34 g | Fiber: 17 g

Ingredients:

• 1 cup bell pepper, diced (any color, I had yellow and red)
• 8 oz cremini mushrooms, diced
• 2 green onions/scallions, small sliced
• 8 oz grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 cup cauliflower
• 1 cup broccoli
• 4 cups baby mixed power greens
• 1 cup quinoa
• 8 oz firm or extra firm tofu
• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk (or your favorite milk)
• 1 cup vegetable stock
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp all purpose flour (can sub corn starch or other flour)
• 2 tbsp fresh (2 tsp dried) basil
• 2 tbsp fresh (2 tsp dried) oregano
• 2 tbsp fresh ( 2 tsp dried) parsely
• 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Preparation:

Begin by finely mincing your garlic and set aside (gives it time to process Allicin – the stuff that makes it so good for you). Next dice the peppers into bite-sized pieces.

Then coat the pan with the olive oil and add the peppers. While they begin to cook, dice up the mushrooms and scallions. Add them to the pot and stir. Lightly salt and pepper.

Let these all cook for a few minutes and 1/2 your grape tomatoes (or dice up a medium sized tomato if you don’t have the grape variety). Add the tomatoes to the pan, followed by the minced garlic. Give those a minute or two, then add the two tablespoons of flour.

Stir the flour into the veggies and around the pan for 1 – 2 minutes, until it lightly browns. Then add the milk, stock and tomato sauce and stir all around, scraping any bits off the bottom of the pan with the spoon.

Let the mix come up to a simmer, then add the quinoa, herbs, cauliflower, broccoli tofu and greens. Stir in together, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally for about 20 – 25 minutes. The quinoa will have fluffed up and absorbed most of the water, but it should still have some thickened sauce present.

Dump the whole thing into a 9×13″ casserole dish, cover with the cheese and put under the broiler for about 3 min until the cheese on top is brown and bubbly.  Let it stand for about 5 – 10 minutes so it sets. Then scoop into a big bowl and sprinkle with a little fresh basil and oregano.

Variations:

• Substitute the cheese topper with vegan cheese or nutritional yeast
• Substitute tofu with tempeh, vegan ground round, lentils or kidney beans
• Skip the tofu altogether
• Swap tofu for chicken, sausage, pancetta, ground beef
• Make it a little less creamy and more like a thick spaghetti sauce, by using swapping out the 1 1/2 cups milk for 1 cup water and 1/2 cup milk
• Mix additional cheese into the casserole before topping it with cheese

However you roll with your casserole, make it with quinoa next time. You will not be disappointed.

Bon Appétit and Namaste,

Aliengyrl