Oven-Baked Mexican Quinoa Casserole : Vegan : Gluten Free

As regular readers know, this blog brings a variety of articles, studies, thoughts, music and recipes! It is presented in a magazine style - we hope something for everyone. Our main focus is about the Low Carb Higher (Healthy) Fat lifestyle, LCHF for short, and you can read/find out more about that here 

In recent months we have seen that more and more we have regular readers, and followers, who choose to eat vegetarian or vegan. With that in mind I am passing on this recipe suggestion from Vegangela blog, it's Oven-Baked Mexican Quinoa Casserole - a vegan recipe.

Simply fry up the onion and garlic, then toss everything in a casserole dish and let it cook in the oven for 1 hour. So easy, and it's vegan / gluten-free / nut-free and has moderate carbs ...

Ingredients 

Serves Four

1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup uncooked quinoa
796 ml (28 oz.) can diced tomatoes, with liquid
½ cup water
2 tbsp. nutritional yeast (optional)
1 tbsp. tomato paste or ketchup
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
½ tsp chilli powder (more if you like things spicy)
Salt & freshly ground pepper
540 ml (19 oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained
311 g (11 oz.) can corn kernels, with liquid
3 cups baby spinach

Toppings of choice: vegan sour cream, avocado, cilantro, vegan cheese, etc. 

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350F.  180C.  Gas Mark 4
2. Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil in a medium frying pan (or stove-top-safe 2.8 litre/3 quart casserole dish). Add onion and garlic, and sauté until translucent, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat; and transfer to oven-safe casserole dish if not already using one.
3. Add quinoa, diced tomatoes (with juice), water, nutritional yeast, tomato paste (or ketchup), and spices. Season with salt and pepper and stir to combine.
4. COVER and place in oven and set timer for 30 minutes.
5. Carefully remove casserole from oven and stir in drained beans and corn (with liquid). If the mixture looks dry, add a half cup of water.
6. Return to oven WITH LID and set timer for another 30 minutes.
7. Carefully remove casserole from oven and stir in spinach. It will wilt from the heat.
8. Top with sour cream, diced avocado and/or cilantro and serve.

9. IF FREEZING: Make full recipe but leave-out the spinach and toppings. Let cool and freeze in airtight container(s). To serve: defrost fully, lightly reheat (in microwave or on stovetop), stir in spinach and add toppings of choice.

For help with weight/measurement conversion see here 
From an original idea, with step by step guide here 

We bring a variety of recipe ideas to this blog, and not all may be suitable for you. If you may have any food allergies, or underlying health issues these must always be taken into account. If you are a diabetic and not sure how certain foods may affect your blood sugars, test is best, i.e. use your meter.

All the best Jan