Happy New Year!
I’m widly craving ooey gooey food since it’s been in the teens here in Austin. I’ve had this recipe saved for a while and wow is it delish and full of veggies!
The Ingredients
This can easily be made vegetarian if you just omit the beef or you could use a meat alternative. Just season the veggies or meat alternative with the spices used for the beef.
Quinoa, prepared according to the package instructions or you could use long grain rice. Go ahead and make this and set aside.
1/2 lb ground beef (you could make the full pound as outlined below, but save half for tacos or a taco salad)
1 tsp each of cumin, garlic powder, chili powder, and paprika
1 cup of red salsa
1/2 shallot, diced
6 baby bell peppers, julienned
1 zuchinni, diced
1 carrot, sliced into thin coins
1 cup of colby jack shredded cheese
The Process
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a skillet over medium heat, add the beef and cook until just brown. It’s okay if there is still a bit of pink since it will cook longer in the oven. Add all the spices to the beef and 1/2 cup of the salsa along with a shake of salt & pepper; mix well. Let cook for 2 more minutes, then remove from skillet and set aside.
Turn the burner to medium-low heat and in the same skillet add 2 tbsp olive oil, the shallot, carrots, bell peppers, and zucchini. Let saute for about 6 minutes or until veggies are soft.
While the veggies are cooking, in a 9×9 casserole dish, add the quinoa and 1/2 cup of salsa; mix well and then layer the quinoa on the bottom of the casserole dish.
When the veggies are done, add them to the ground beef and mix them up. Then add the beef/veggie mixture on top of the quinoa. Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the top of the beef mixture.
Place in the oven uncovered for about 15 minutes or until the cheese has melted.
Just the comforting food I needed. Happy eating!