Couldn’t Be Easier Quinoa Casserole

I’m crazy about quinoa! It’s like a super-food as it’s considered a complete protein, is high in iron, and cooks up very quickly. Even NASA thinks it’s groovy! Here’s a blurb from wikipedia:

“its protein content is very high (12%–18%). Unlike wheat or rice (which are low in lysine), quinoa contains a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans, making it an unusually complete food. This means it takes less quinoa protein to meet one’s needs than wheat protein. It is a good source of dietary fiber and phosporous and is high in magnesium and iron. Quinoa is gluten free and considered easy to digest. Because of all these characteristics, quinoa is being considered as a possible crop in NASA’s Controlled Ecological Life Support System for long-duration manned spaceflights.^“

Quotes are good. Pictures are sometimes better:

 

This is one of my “go-to” recipes after my long Sunday runs because it’s warm and hearty and I can stretch and shower while it’s in the oven. It is so simplistic, but really good. Even Mr. Fish – who wrinkles his nose if it looks too healthy – really likes it.

Couldn’t Be Easier Quinoa Casserole

• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 cup yellow or green lentils
• 1 cup dried split peas
• 1/2 cup wheat germ
• 1 onion, diced
• 4-6 cups veggie stock (or if you’re me, vegan bouillon powder & water)
• 1 can crushed tomatoes (or real ones in the summer!)
• 1/2 cup dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1 teaspoon sage
• 1 teaspoon rosemary (crumble it up between your fingers, first)
• 1 teaspoon thyme (same)
• salt & pepper to taste.
• 1 tablespoon wet mustard (optional)

Put everything in a roasting pan or baking dish, stir, and put in your oven at about 350f or 175c for say 40 minutes. Take it out, give it a stir, add some water if it is looking dry to you (I often do), cover and return to oven for another 20 minutes or so. Take it out and give it a little stir, add a little water if you think you should, and put it back in for about 10 minutes, or until everything is done. If it seems dry to you, just add more water or stock and let it sit with the cover on.

This is the basic recipe, but you can add mushrooms, chopped celery or finely chopped carrots…pretty much anything you want. The spices are also easy to adjust.

Hope you like it!