Crockpot Quinoa Casserole

We were in serious need of some comfort food this weekend and we were seriously not in the mood to go to the grocery store.  So, I threw the food we had on-hand into the crockpot to let it do the cooking for me!  And it just so happened that I had lots of quinoa in the pantry, which made an excellent base for this casserole.  And it gave me a great opportunity to try cooking quinoa in a slow cooker.

We had zucchini and carrots in our fridge, but bell peppers, broccoli, and just about any other vegetable I can think of would taste great in here!  And feel free to use a smaller can of green chiles.  We just really like green chiles in our family.

I keep 2-cup portions of shredded zucchini in my freezer, so the only prep work I needed to do was shred the carrots, chop the parsley, and dice the roasted red peppers.  The rest was just throwing it all into the crockpot and waiting!  I love my slow cooker.

Crockpot Quinoa Casserole
Makes 8 servings

• 2 cups quinoa, uncooked
• 3 3/4 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 2 cups shredded zucchini
• 2 cups shredded carrot
• 1 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 3/4 cup roasted red peppers, diced
• 7 oz can green chiles, drained
• 8 oz Neufchatel cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup fat free sour cream
• salt and pepper, to taste

1.  Soak quinoa for 15 minutes in water, rinse, and add to crockpot.

2.  Add all other ingredients, except for the cream cheese and sour cream, to the crockpot and stir to combine. 

3.  Cook for 2-4 hours on high or 4-6 hours on low.

4.  Fluff quinoa with a fork, then stir in cream cheese and sour cream.

5.  Cook for another 15-30 minutes, until cream cheese is melted.  

Nutritional Information per serving, according to My Fitness Pal : Calories - 290, Fat - 8g, Protein - 11g, Carbohydrates - 42g, Fiber - 5g