Quinoa Casserole

I have wanted to make a few more meals without using any type of meat but still get the protein and fill full when we are done eating.  This recipe came out tasting a lot like an enchilada in casserole form.  I adapted it from the original recipe found here.  

Quinoa Casserole

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked quinoa

3 cups cooked black beans (or two 15-ounce cans, drained and rinsed)

2 C shredded and cooked hash browns

1/4 C chopped onions

1/8 C green chilies

1 cup shredded low-fat cheddar cheese

1 TBS ground cumin

Liberal pinches salt and pepper

2 eggs

1 ½ cup salsa

2 TBS fresh cilantro, chopped, for garnish

Extras:  Sour cream and more salsa for topping after cooking.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350° F. Prepare a 9” x 9” casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.  Cook hash browns on the stovetop.  In a large bowl, mix together the cooked quinoa, black beans, hash browns, 1⁄2 cup of the cheese, onion, green chilies and the cumin, salt, and pepper. In a small bowl, mix together the eggs and the salsa. Pour the salsa mixture over the vegetables and gently blend. Pour everything into the prepared casserole dish.  Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top and bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Garnish with the cilantro.

Super Moist Fudge Bundt Cake

You have to be a real chocloate lover to eat this cake!  We served it up with a little scoop of vanilla ice cream and it was fantastic!   The recipe calls for sour cream, which I did not have at the moment but substituted with cottage cheese and buttermilk.  I also switched out the oil for apple sauce.  I think it definitely made the cake much more dense by doing so, but it still had good flavor.

The recipe came from here.

Super Moist Fudge Bundt Cake

 INGREDIENTS:

1 devils food  GF cake mix Betty Crocker
1 4-serving instant chocolate pudding mix
4 large eggs
1 cup sour cream (not low-fat or fat-free) I used 1  C cottage cheese + 1/4 C buttermilk
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I use canola) I used 1/2 C applesauce
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

Place all ingredients except chocolate chips in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer for 1 minute. Stir down sides. Continue to mix on medium speed for 2-3 minutes. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared (i.e. greased)  bundt pan. Bake 45-50 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool 20 minutes. Invert onto serving platter. Dust with powdered sugar for an elegant look before digging in. 

Pineapple Salsa

My sister-in-law made this at our family reunion a few weeks back and I fell in love!  It is a very strange combinations of flavors, but somehow, it all just comes together in your mouth and leaves you wanting more!

It is one of those recipes that you really just put in the amounts that give you the flavor that you like.  I searched out a few online, and listed below is a starting point.  I found that I like mine chilled for a few hours for two reasons.  I like my salsa cold and it gives the flavors time to blend together.

The recipe below came from here:

2 cups diced fresh pineapple
1 cup diced red pepper
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
3 tablespoons finely chopped jalapeno pepper, stemmed and seeded
1 clove garlic, minced (I did not add this)
Juice of 1 large lime
Salt, to taste

In a medium bowl, combine pineapple, red pepper, cilantro, red onion, jalapeno, garlic, and lime juice. Stir until well combined. Season with salt, to taste. Serve at room temperature or chilled.