Butternut Squash Quinoa Casserole Recipe - A quick and easy one dish meal

Beautiful orange butternut squash

After a rough afternoon at work I was not in the mood to make a multi-step meal. Not to mention, my produce drawer was sadly completely empty (that is after I threw out the green onion that had gone bad). So I broke into my stash of winter squashes and grains and made a 1 dish casserole meal. This was extremely simple and while the casserole baked I was even able to whip up a batch of chocolate pecan cookies (because I was sadly also out of dessert foods).

Just a quick note on winter squashes. I think these are one of nature's smartest inventions. At about day 5 after grocery shopping, all of my produce has either gone bad or would be bad if I hadn't eaten it already. Day 4 things are usually a bit wilty, but day 5 is usually the cut off. But fear not, we will not be eating a plate full of minimally nutritious refined pasta or other processed and packaged foods...winter squash to the rescue. I like to stock up on a variety of starchy vegetables like acorn squash, butternut squash, spaghetti squash, sweet potatoes, and other potatoes. These buggers last weeks if not months if stored in a cool, dark place. While they are starchy, and not as healthy as a bunch of spinach, they are still unprocessed and loaded with good nutrients. So instead of resorting to eating out or going back to the grocery store, on days 5 and 6 I can usually bust out a simple and nutritious squash spotlighted meal.

Without further ado, here is a fairly hands off, gluten free, dairy free, refined sugar free, vegan recipe starring butternut squash and red quinoa (which made for my favorite color combo). 

Butternut Squash Quinoa - rich colors, tasty, and comforting

Butternut Squash Quinoa Casserole Recipe 
 Ingredients
1 butternut squash
1 cup quinoa (I used red quinoa for this recipe but the tan kind is fine too)
1 3/4 cup water or gluten free vegetable broth
2 tbs olive oil
1 1/2 cups peas (defrosted if frozen)
Seasoning:
1 tsp ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp tumeric
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp granulated garlic
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp coconut sugar (use half as much if using regular sugar)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Soak your quinoa in cold water (you can skip this step if the package said it is pre-soaked and rinsed).

You will want cubed butternut squash for this recipe. A shortcut would be to buy already cubed butternut squash (check your freezer aisle, or I think I've seen them in bags in the produce section of Trader Joes). I like buying the whole thing though, and as I mentioned above, storing it for a rainy day. (Today actually was a rainy day!) The bonus to buying your butternut squash whole is you get to keep the squash seeds, which you can roast in 10 minutes and eat as an appetizer or as a topping.

So if you have a whole butternut squash, you will want to wash it and slice it in half where it starts to bulge out. Cut off the ends and then slice the skin off. This is the hardest part of the recipe...literally...those butternut squash skins are tough! So watch your fingers, seriously.

Once your butternut squash is peeled, scoop out the stringy flesh and seeds. Separate the seeds, rinse them, and pat dry. Toss them in some salt and cayenne pepper (or seasoning of your choice) and pop them in the oven for 7-10 minutes or until light and crispy.

Meanwhile, slice the peeled butternut squash into 3/4" rounds. Then slice those rounds into 3/4" strips, and slice those up so you have nice 3/4" cubes. Now, butternut squashes come in all different sizes, so you may have leftover if you buy a big boy like I did. You want about 4 cups of squash cubes, you can use more or less, but if you want your food to stretch into another day, you can reserve some cubes in a ziplock bag for tomorrow night's dinner or to microwave for lunch.

The casserole at this stage is rockin' VT colors- Go Hokies!!

Next, toss your butternut squash cubes in a mixing bowl with 2 tbs olive oil and then toss in your spices.  Lightly grease a large casserole dish with olive oil. Thoroughly rinse your quinoa with cold water until the water runs clear. Now, spread the quinoa across the casserole dish. Top with water or broth and then top with the seasoned butternut squash cubes, spreading evenly across the quinoa. Cover tightly with a lid or with tin foil and bake for 45 minutes or until the water is mostly absorbed.

Remove the casserole from oven and mix in the peas. Place back in the oven, uncovered for 10 more minutes. Easy peasy ;)

chocolate pecan teff cookies waiting for their turn in the oven

While the casserole was baking, I found myself bored waiting for Brian to return from his run. So I whipped up a quick batch of chocolate pecan teff cookies. I used coconut oil in place of butter and maple syrup in place of sugar (I topped them with some coconut sugar too for aesthetics more than anything since coconut sugar isn't very sweet).  These were ready to go in the oven as soon as the casserole was done and the oven had cooled down to 350.

Instead of TV I have to compete with Brian's laptop and phone during dinner

FYI - this recipe might be a good one for a dinner party where you can't rely on your guests to be on time. Brian showed up an hour and 10 minutes later than he told me he'd be home. But I just kept the casserole covered in the oven with the heat turned off for that hour and 10 minutes and it was surprisingly unchanged in texture or taste. I was really surprised the quinoa didn't dry out or mush up - it was just fine.

So although for some reason i wrote a lot, One Dish Butternut Squash Quinoa Casserole is really a super simple, hands off recipe. Great for Thursday nights when the vegetable bin is empty and you are exhausted. Speaking of exhausted...

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