Crispy Quinoa Bake
I’m feeling a little bah-humbug.
Its not that I hate Christmas. Its just that I’m an all or nothing kind of gal. If I can’t do something to the best of my ability I’d rather not do it at all. That being said, life is crazy right now with a new house and a new baby. Nothing looks the way we want it to and things are lost daily because they have no permanent home. Its hard enough staying on top of the cooking, cleaning, and general life-sustainment of the five of us, but add Christmas in there? Forget about it.
There is no Christmas tree. The only decoration around the house is a string of icicle lights twist tied to the banister. My Christmas shopping is far from over. Fear not, I’ve put plenty of thought into the food we’ll be serving at various get togethers because that is a fun once a year treat. Also, there will eventually be a Christmas tree. There might be decorations (I’m not a knick knack kind of gal either). I know Christmas is about more than this, but I don’t even feel like I can give all the world peace Jesus in the manger stuff my best either. This year we survive, and maybe next year there will be fresh baked cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning and our house will be decorated like something out of a magazine.
So today I don’t bring you Christmas food. I bring you comfort food. Healthy comfort food. FIll you up, warm you up, and still feel good after eating it. food There are loads of vegetables and just a hint of spice. The quinoa gets delightfully crispy around the edges of the pan and anywhere cheese has been browned on top of it. This started as a stuffed pepper recipe. When my husband asked me if he was supposed to eat the “bucket” it came in, I decided I would be better off hiding the peppers in the savory stuffing. If you really want to spice things up I’d recommend throwing in some chopped jalapeno and swapping the cheese out for a shredded pepper jack. Its also really good with 1/2 cup chopped cilantro in it. Real life cooking – I didn’t have cilantro the day I made this. You should add cilantro.
Ingredients
1 cup quinoa, uncooked
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup onion, diced (about 1 medium)
1//2 green pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup zucchini, cubed (about 2 small)
1 15 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 4 ounce can diced green chiles
1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
1 cup frozen corn
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 lime, juiced
Salt
2 cups shredded monterey jack cheese
Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray. Set aside.
Place the quinoa in a fine mesh strainer and rinse throughly with cool water for at least two minutes. Drain. In a medium saucepan, heat 2 teaspoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the quinoa and cook, stirring, for about one minute. The quinoa should begin to dry out and pop a bit. Add the chicken stock. Stir and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to low and cook, covered, for 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat 1tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and peppers and cook, stirring occasionally until soft, about 7 minutes. Add garlic and zucchini and cook 3 more minutes.
Fluff the quinoa with a fork and place it in a large bowl. Add onion mixture, beans, green chiles, tomatoes, corn, cumin, oregano, chili powder, lime juice, and salt to taste. Mix thoroughly and transfer to prepared baking dish. Bake 30 minutes, top with cheese, and bake 10 minutes more or until melted and just beginning to brown.
Adapted from Dough-Eyed Girls
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This sounds so delicious, this might be the recipe to get the hubs to eat quinoa:)
Connie
I love the comment about your husband asking if he was supposed to eat the “bucket” it comes in….lol…that is totally the type of comments I get from my other half. I’m glad to find recipes that I can hide peppers in. He’ll eat them if he can’t see them.
Thanks for the recipe.
This looks great! Is it in a 9×13 (can’t quite tell)?
The photograph is a smaller dish but 9×13 is the appropriate size for the full recipe.
Hi Lindsay! I made a vegan version of your recipe (actually twice!) and have it posted if you have any vegan readers that are interested http://thehealthyfamilyandhome.com/vegan-southwest-quinoa-bake/
Thanks for sharing, this is one of my favorites now!
That’s awesome! Thanks for sharing your vegan version!
I had all the ingredients except a zucchini – which I dont care for anyhow. This made a huge amount. Would be great for a potluck dish or when company is coming over. I had never made anything with Quinoa before and the fellas eyed it suspiciously but ate it up.
Could I make this ahead of time and just pop it in the oven to reheat it for dinner?
Definitely!
Sounds wonderful and will definitely try it. Just wondering of any other good and tasty substitute for the can of diced tomatoes??? My daughter seems to be allergic and we have cut tomatoes out of the menu for now. I am running out of tomato-less ideas. Thanks!
I would suggest just leaving them out and substituting more of the other vegetables such as peppers or beans.
Thank you so much for this. It is so good and filling. I will be sharing it with my family this week!
Do you have the nutrisioal breakdown?
I don’t have the nutritional info, but you can type the exact ingredients you would like to use and decide how many servings you’re going to make of it (I get about six) and this website will pop all that info out for you!
http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp
I saw this recipe on pinterest, and clicked on it to read through the ingredients. I have to say, being a mom of a 9 month old, and struggling to get my head on each morning, this post made me giggle. I just wanted to thank you for the humor on a Thursday evening when I am contemplating going to bed early, or actually cleaning up after making dinner. Probably bed. Thanks again.
So glad I could make you smile! I hope you got some rest!
Great recipe! Thanks for posting. Love quinoa and good way to get in your veggies. I just used a can of Rotel instead of the tomatoes and chilies because I already had it.
This was my first time cooking with quinoa and loved the results. The casserole was delicious. I’m planing on making it with an Italian twist next. Thanks for sharing!
I’d never thought of an Italian twist! Sounds yum!
I’m in love!! I love quinoa anyway, and I’m sure my husband is tired of seeing it every night. But this was new, different, and delish! I cooked and added two boneless, skinless chicken breasts to mine. Im not a huge fan of green peppers, so I diced them up really good and didn’t even know they were there. I also used the can of diced tomatoes with green chiles. This was a hit last night and also what Im having for lunch today! Im counting down until 12 o’clock!
Wow, I just made this and it is delicious!!! I shredded some pepper jack cheese for the top and used red quinoa. Thanks for the recipe! I’ll definately make it again!
Can you use freshly cut tomatoes/cherry tomatoes instead of canned? how much would you recommend?
Definitely! I would use one pint of cherry tomatoes halved or quartered or four romas seeded and chopped.
This goes in the recipe hall of fame. It was so delicious when I made it, the next day when I reheated it and a month later when I pulled it out of the freezer!
So glad you enjoyed it!
I made this tonight and it was FABULOUS! Found it on pinterest of course. My husband gave me the “why do you keep making me eat hippie food” look at first, but he did taste it and ended up really liking it! The only change I made was adding in the spices (plus cayenne) with the onions, peppers & zucchini as they cooked. Thank you so much for the great recipe!
Haha, my husband does the same thing! I’m glad you guys enjoyed it.
FYI:
I used 2% mexican shredded cheese in this calculation on spark people
For 8 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 304.5
Total Fat 10.1 g
Saturated Fat 4.1 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.6 g
Monounsaturated Fat 2.4 g
Cholesterol 15.0 mg
Sodium 687.4 mg
Potassium 426.2 mg
Total Carbohydrate 37.5 g
Dietary Fiber 8.0 g
Sugars 2.3 g
Protein 16.5 g
Thank you so much for sharing this information!
My husband mistrusts anything green but he loved this! He went back for seconds!!! Thank you for such a wonderful recipe.
That’s awesome! I love making healthy converts out of delicious food.
Looks super yummy!! Have you ever made it with meat? Any suggestions on what would go good in it meatwise?? Chicken? shrimp? Thanks!!
I haven’t made it with meat but I think both chicken and shrimp would be great additions. I would probably use two cooked, cubed chicken breasts or a pound of shrimp.
Great, thanks! We’re making it for supper tonight!
I think we’ll try it with shrimp!
made this for dinner tonight and it was amazing! so easy and healthy! looking forward to the leftovers:)
I made this and it was DELICIOUS! It completely filled up my 9×13 dish. I did add a bit more lime juice and zucchini. This is definitely going to be a staple! Even my husband enjoyed it.
Nice use for quinoa. This looks very tasty.
I’m trying to make do with what I have on hand. Could I substitute all or 1/2 of the quinoa with brown rice? I have about 1/2 cup of quinoa and a tight budget this month.
Absolutely! Just make sure you cook the rice according to the directions on the package and not as the recipe states for the quinoa.