Sausage – Vegetable – Quinoa Bake

My mother was amazing at throwing together her “one-pot” meals. She would take whatever was in the fridge and combine it together into one pot or dish in a way that was always delicious. She is the inspiration for this recipe.

This recipe is simply a guideline. You can use anything for the meat (or skip it altogether), and any vegetables will work, even those left over from a prior meal.

Sausage – Vegetable – Quinoa Bake 

Ingredients

• 2 cups uncooked Quinoa
• 1 lb sausage meat, ground beef, chicken, tuna, etc.
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 3 cups roasted vegetables (squash, sweet potato, carrots, zucchini)
• 1 cup chopped raw kale
• 1 cup chopped red pepper
• 1 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 3 tbsp virgin coconut oil
• salt and pepper
• 2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
• 2 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• Optional: cayenne or ancho chili powder to taste

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 350° F
• Wash and cut your veggies into 1″ cubes
• Toss the vegetables for roasting (not the kale or red pepper) in 2 tbsp of melted coconut oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper
• Place the veggies in a large casserole dish and roast in the oven for 30 minutes
• Soak the quinoa overnight (this is optional, but a good practice to get into.) Or you can soak the quinoa while you roast the vegetables
• Rinse the quinoa really well. Put into a large pot, and add 4 cups of water
• Bring the quinoa to a boil then reduce the heat to a simmer (like cooking rice), and simmer for 15 minutes
• In a frying pan, melt the remaining coconut oil and saute the meat until almost cooked.  If using sausage, remove from the casings first
• Add onions to the meat and cook until the onions are soft and the meat is cooked through
• Put cooked quinoa, cooked meat and onions, kale, peppers, cheese and spices into a large bowl and mix well
• Pour it all into the large casserole dish that you roasted the veggies in and put into the oven
• Cook for about 20 to 30 minutes until everything is warmed through
• Enjoy!