Recipe: Quinoa Black Bean Casserole

Have you hopped on the quinoa (keen-wah) train yet?

It took me a bit, but I'm convinced! And if you're not yet, I've got a great recipe for you to try, especially if you like Mexican flavors.

This will easily make 6 good sized portions (the original recipe says 8).

I added some modifications from the original recipe. 

What You Need:

-1 cup of cooked quinoa (roughly 1/4 cup dry quinoa, cooked following the directions)
-2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
-2 large sweet potatoes, shredded
-1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
-1 heaping Tbsp. ground cumin
-2 eggs
-2 cups salsa
-liberal pinches/dashes of salt, pepper, onion powder

What You Do:
1. Cook the quinoa according to the package directions. Meanwhile, I suggest heating up the sweet potatoes for a little bit in the microwave (poke holes!) to soften them a bit, and help get the cooking process started. Use a food processor/magic bullet type of instrument to shred the sweet potatoes (trust me, grating it yourself will be torture).
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the quinoa, black beans and sweet potato. Add in 1/2 cup of the cheese, the cumin, onion powder, salt, and pepper.

3. In a small bowl, combine the egg and salsa, and whisk together.

4. Add the salsa mixture to the bowl with the quinoa. Stir it together so it's evenly mixed.

The original directions did not say to mix evenly, but do it. It's important for even flavors.

5. Spray a casserole dish (I used a 9x13, the original recipe says 9x9) with non-stick cooking spray. Add the mixture into the casserole dish. Coat with the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese (or add in a bit more, like I did :)

6. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes. 

7. Add your desired toppings--we chose sour cream and jalapeno slices which added a nice flavoring to the whole dish.

If you don't like sweet potatoes, you can't even taste them in the meal, so I'd give it a try anyway. I love sweet potatoes but I couldn't taste it in there at all.

Also, the leftovers are even better than the first night since all of the flavors sit and blend in with everything.
Happy healthy eating!