11.22.2015

Cheesy Butternut Squash Quinoa Bake with Gruyere & Brussels Sprouts (And Thanksgiving Week Eats! 11.22.15)

A couple of weeks ago, I tried this DELICIOUS slow cooker butternut squash sauce from Mel's Kitchen Cafe.  I was going to try it over quinoa, but it was indeed on the saucy side and went better with pasta.  I still wanted to utilize my quinoa, so I took the leftovers (there were PLENTY, even though I halved the recipe) and put together a quinoa bake that I thought I'd share.  It would be a perfect side dish for the holidays, or a nice vegetarian main course - 'cuz quinoa is a complete protein, don'tcha know.


Making the sauce from scratch in the slow cooker and THEN the bake might be a bit time consuming, but I think that picking up a store bought container of butternut squash soup and melting a little bit of cream cheese into it would work just as well.  OR you could use this fantastic Trader Joe's pasta sauce for a pumpkin version!

Cheesy Butternut Squash Quinoa Bake with Gruyere & Brussels Sprouts
(serves 2, or 4 as a side dish)

Ingredients:
  • 1 1/2 cups of butternut squash sauce, recipe below (or 1 1/4 cups of heated squash soup with 1/4 cup of cream cheese whisked in)
  • 1 cup quinoa, cook according to package directions
  • 1 cup brussels sprouts, halved
  • 1 cup shredded Gruyere, divided (I used Cheddar Gruyere blend)
Butternut Squash Sauce:

Saute 1/4 cup of diced onion and a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet until soft.  Add one clove of chopped garlic and 1/4 teaspoon each of: dried rosemary, sage, thyme, salt and pepper and cook for one minute. Pour mixture into slow cooker with one pound of cubed butternut squash and 2 cups of chicken stock.  Cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours.  Blend with an immersion blender until smooth and whisk in 4 ounces of cream cheese.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and prepare a cookie sheet lined with foil.  While the quinoa is cooking, toss the cut brussels sprouts with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and roast in the oven for about 20 minutes, tossing half way through.  Once the sprouts and quinoa are cooked, mix them with the sauce and 3/4 cups of the Gruyere in a large bowl and then spread into 9x11 pan, or favorite casserole dish coated with cooking spray.  Top with remaining shredded cheese.  Bake for 25-30 minutes, until bubbly and the edges turn golden brown.

I'm thinking this might be our post Thanksgiving dinner, complete with leftovers!
roast turkey breast (we buy a 5lb breast and have used Alton Brown's brine recipe for about the last six years - DELICIOUS) 
classing New England style stuffing with sausage and chestnuts, I also add granny smith apples to this recipe we've been using from Cooking Light for about ten years 
hash brown potato casserole - this Cooking Light version has also been a staple of ours for many years 
mixed greens salad I use the bones of this recipe, omitting chicken/bacon and add Trader Joe's spicy/sweet pecans and apples
cranberry sauce - bought the cranberry orange relish from Trader Joe's this year
pumpkin pie - I just pick one up from the store as the kids are really the ones who eat it and they're not very particular about their pie
As always, I'm linking up with Org Junkie, Mommy Run Fast and Jill Conyers - be sure to check out all the great weekly menus!



1 comments:

  1. What a fun way to use squash! I am making butternut squash tonight, but am going to have to try this next time! Techlazy.com Crazyask.com Howmate.com

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