Baked Quinoa Casserole with Chicken and Broccoli

This hearty Baked Quinoa Casserole will warm your heart and lift your conscience; you'll sleep better knowing you had a healthy dinner consisting of nature's own super food.  Packed with steamed broccoli florets and strips of seasoned chicken breast, this creamy casserole is topped off with Gruyere cheese.

If you haven't heard of Quinoa, let me introduce you! Quinoa is a south American seed that is cooked just as any grain would be and is considered easy to digest. It's technically not a (cereal) grain and doesn't contain gluten, which has made it extremely popular with the rise of gluten-free diets as of late. It's packed with protein and fiber, among other nutrients and also has calcium, which has made it popular with vegan diets too. In the U.S. Quinoa has risen to super-star fame in just the last few years as more and more people move to alternative diets.

The first step in creating this recipe is to make your own creamy white sauce. The quinoa, chicken and broccoli will bake in this sauce and make the whole dish creamy and delicious. Use any poultry (chicken) seasoning you like to give the sauce a great depth of flavor. An additional seasoning blend, Emeril's Essence seasoning, is used to season the chicken and add a great savory flavor. If you can't find it, use your own favorite seasoning blend (like Mrs. Dash or something similar). Steamed broccoli is mixed in towards the end of baking time and then the whole thing is topped off with melted Gruyere cheese! Casserole just isn't casserole unless there's cheese involved :0)

Note: The Quinoa is done cooking when it looks like it's popped open and is soft. If you find your casserole is still a bit on the liquid-y side after baking, just pop it back in the oven for a few extra minutes for the ingredients to finish soaking up the sauce.

My family and I really enjoyed eating this casserole, and I was glad to have prepared something that I knew was nutritious. I hope you enjoy it too :0)

Recipe adapted from www.pinchofyum.com one of my favorite recipe blogs :0)

Baked Quinoa Casserole with Chicken and Broccoli

by The Goldilocks Kitchen

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 40 to 55 minutes

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Ingredients (6 to 8 servings)

• 2 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 cups water, divided
• 1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
• 1/4 cup cooked crumbled bacon (about 3 slices)
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 2 teaspoons Emeril's Essence seasoning
• 1/4 cup shredded Gruyere cheese
• 3 cups fresh broccoli florets

Instructions

1. Set your oven to heat to 400 degrees. Grease a 9X13 inch baking dish well with shortening. In a small mixing bowl, whisk 1/2 cup milk, flour and poultry seasoning until combined. Set aside. In a medium saucepan, bring the chicken broth and 1/2 cup milk just to boiling, then whisk in the milk/flour mixture and bring to a boil. Continue to boil, stirring constantly until sauce thickens, then remove from heat.

2. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the bacon, quinoa, one cup of water and the white sauce. Pour into your prepared baking dish. Pat the chicken breast dry with paper towels. Slice into thin slices (approx 1/4 inch wide) and lay them on top of the white sauce mixture in the dish. Season with Emeril's basic blend by sprinkling all over the chicken. Place the casserole in the oven and bake for at least 30 to 40 minutes, or until the quinoa is soft, the chicken cooked through and the sauce is thick and reduced.

3. While the casserole bakes, steam the broccoli florets by placing them in boiling water for about 3 to 4 minutes. Drain and rinse the broccoli under cold water. Set aside.

4. When the chicken and quinoa have finished baking, stir in the broccoli florets and an additional 1/2 cup to 1 cup of water if needed. The casserole should be creamy and smooth and stir around easily. Sprinkle on the cheese and pop it back in the oven for about 5 minutes to melt. Serve.

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Savory Mushroom and Onion Shepherd's Pie

Savory Mushroom and Onion Shepherd's pie is a recipe that I grew up on. My mother would often make this for Sunday dinner and we'd hoover it up~ vegetables and all. It's not what I'd call a 'from scratch' recipe, but it does have a few secret ingredients that make it live up to its' savory name :0)

For really delicious tasting shepherd's pie, it's important to use homemade mashed potatoes. I have made the mistake of using instant potato pearls in the past, and ended up with...well...blech. My homemade mashed potato recipe is flavored with not only butter, salt and pepper; half and half and cream cheese make the potatoes fabulously creamy and delicious tasting on their own.

One ingredient that really makes this shepherd's pie great is instant onion soup mix. (I'd almost call it a secret ingredient; I use it often to season beef.) Sprinkled over the ground beef when it's browning in the skillet. It makes the beef mmm mmm good! This is the only onion in the recipe, no wiping away tears while dicing fresh onion.

The 'mushroom' in the title comes from condensed cream of mushroom soup, which the vegetables are mixed into to form the second layer. I love the way it flavors the veggies, and sinks down to flavor the ground beef even more when it's baking in the oven. I personally load the shredded cheese on the top of this casserole, but you can cut back to whatever your taste preference. Just make sure you don't skip it all together, cheese makes everything taste better, and in this recipe cheddar cheese pulls all the flavors together and makes this recipe over the top delicious. Enjoy it!

Shepherd's Pie

by The Goldilocks Kitchen

Prep Time: 40 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

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Ingredients (8 servings)

• 3 medium size russet potatoes
• 1/3 cup half and half
• 4 tablespoons salted sweet cream butter or margarine
• 1/4 cup (about 1/3 a package) of cream cheese
• 2 lbs ground beef
• 2 tablespoons powdered onion soup mix
• salt
• pepper
• 1 can of condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1 and 1/2 cups frozen peas
• 1 can (15 oz) whole kernel corn
• 1 can (15 oz) sliced green beans
• 1 and 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese

Instructions

1. Peel and cut the potatoes into approximately 1 inch chunks. Place in a pot and fill with water to 1 inch above the potatoes. Generously salt the water and set over a medium high burner. Boil the potatoes until soft, about 10 to 15 minutes. Drain. Place in a stand mixer, or using a hand held mixer, whip the potatoes with the half and half, butter, cream cheese salt and pepper. Set aside.

2. While the potatoes are cooking, brown hamburger in a large skillet using a wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Sprinkle the onion soup mix and salt and pepper over to season the meat. Stir often and cook until no pink spots remain. Drain excess fat from pan if necessary. Pour into a 9 X 13 inch baking dish.

3. Set your oven to 375 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the condensed onion soup mix with the peas, corn and green beans. Spread out over the hamburger layer in the baking dish.

4. Spread the mashed potatoes evenly over the vegetable mixture all the way to the sides of the dish. Sprinkle the grated cheese over the potatoes and place in the oven for 30 minutes. Serve.

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Spaghetti Squash Marinara

I am totally sneaky when I cook Spaghetti Squash Marinara. I serve it to my kids calling it "spaghetti and meatballs", (which they LOVE) and they eat it right up! No matter if you're looking to sneak your kids some healthy food, or if you're looking to cut carbs and calories, spaghetti squash is a great alternative to pasta. Add a salad and you have a great 'Italian' meal that's guilt free!

Spaghetti Squash is pretty cool to work with! Once you bake it, just rake across the flesh inside with a fork and you have spaghetti! You'll love the simplicity of this meal~ there's not a lot of preparation, it's good for you, and tastes great too.

Spaghetti Squash Marinara

by The Goldilocks Kitchen

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes

Keywords: bake entree summer

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Ingredients (6 servings)

• 1 Medium spaghetti squash (about 1 1/2 lbs.), washed, halved lengthwise, and seeds removed
• 2 Cups of your favorite low-fat marinara sauce
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 package of frozen turkey meatballs ( I prefer Jenny-O brand)

Instructions

1. Place oven rack in the middle position and heat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with olive oil cooking spray. Place the two halves of the squash facing down and poke the outside a few times with a fork. Bake for about 45 minutes, until the squash is tender.

2. While the squash is cooling, warm up the turkey meatballs in a large frying pan. Once they are thawed, pour in the marinara sauce and heat to a simmer. Turn the heat to low.

3. With a fork, rake the flesh of the squash into a large bowl. It will look like spaghetti-like threads. There should be about 3 cups. Discard the skin. Dish up the squash into individual servings and pour the marinara sauce and one or two meatballs onto each serving. sprinkle with parmesan and basil and serve.

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Chicken Pomodoro

This dish is easy to prepare and takes less than 30 minutes, perfect for a weeknight supper. Yet it's also fancy enough for preparing for company. I've prepared it several times for my friends and family!

Simple and Delicious weeknight meal.

Juicy white chicken breast topped with a tomato, cream, and basil sauce.

Chicken Pomodoro is a great teaching dish for beginners, as it uses all fresh ingredients. There is just no comparison for food created with fresh ingredients. The Chicken breast meat is patted dry and lightly seasoned with salt and pepper, then cooked in a saute pan until deep golden on both sides. This step is not to cook the chicken through, but to create fond, the little brown bits on the bottom of your saute pan. These little bits are full of flavor and help to give depth to pan sauces. You'll finish cooking the chicken in the prepared sauce at a later step in the recipe.

See the brown bits on the bottom, and
mixed with the onion? That's the fond!

Here, the ingredients are used to build a chunky pan sauce, and then the browned chicken is braised in the creamy mixture with a little kick of red pepper flakes.

Here's the finished sauce, minus the
 fresh basil. (Which goes in just before serving.)

When cooking this recipe, prepping all ingredients beforehand is a must. It goes fast, and you won't have time to be chopping up veggies and herbs and cooking at the same time. 

Chicken Pomodoro

by The Goldilocks Kitchen

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20

Keywords: entree

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Ingredients (4 servings)

• Ingredients
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1.5 lbs total)
• salt and pepper
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil (not extra virgin)
• 1 onion, chopped fine
• 4 garlic cloves, minced or pushed through a press
• 1 tablespoon fresh oregano, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

Instructions

Instructions

Pat chicken dry with paper towels. Using a sharp knife (preferably a chef's knife) slice each breast horizontally in half. It's easiest when you place you hand, fingers close together, flat on top of the meat to secure it and slice through the meat horizontally with your knife, under your hand. You should have 4 total breast shaped cutlets approximately 1/2 inch thick. heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large skillet or saute pan over medium-high heat until just smoking. Cook chicken until golden, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate.

Heat the remaining two tablespoons of olive oil in the empty skillet over medium-high until the oil has spread out over the entire bottom of the pan. Cook the onion until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, oregano, and pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Then stir in the tomatoes, cream and 1/4 teaspoon of salt and bring to a boil. Nestle the chicken and any accumulated juice into the pan. Simmer, covered, until the chicken is cooked through, about 8 minutes.

Transfer chicken to a platter and tent with foil. Simmer sauce, uncovered, until slicktly thickened, about 5 minutes. Off heat, stir in the basil and season with salt and pepper as needed. (Don't forget to always TASTE your sauces before serving, and add salt accordingly.) Pour finished sauce over chicken and serve over your choice of rice, pasta or even polenta!

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