I first hear of quinoa on You Are What You Eat, a British diet show. Even though I found Gillian McKeith a little extreme, I found the whole show fascinating.  It was like watching a train wreck - you couldn’t look away.  So I bought a bag.  And then never used it.  Then I ran across the Weight Watchers recipe Quinoa Mexi 6-Layer Casserole on Recipezaar. And I thought I would give it a try.  I liked it.  I think I would like it more if the quinoa was mixed into the rest of the ingredients and not layered.  The quinoa didn’t have much of a taste - a little nutty from the dry roasting.  And the texture reminded me of couscous.  I would like to try it in a breakfast cereal recipe.

Quinoa Mexi-Casserole

8 servings

1 cup quinoa
1 lb extra lean ground beef
2 garlic cloves
2 tsp cumin
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons oregano
1 tsp salt
1 can corn, drained
1 can black beans, rinsed
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
1 15 oz can tomato sauce
1 cup salsa
4 oz low fat mozzarella cheese

Prepare Quinoa: Rinse in a sieve under running water. Dry roast the quinoa; heat a skillet over medium high heat and add the quinoa - leave the skillet dry - no oil or spray,  for approximately 7 minutes until a crackling sound is heard. Boil 1 1/2 cups of water in a small pot, add the dry roasted quinoa. Turn down the heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.  While quinoa is simmering, brown the ground turkey and the garlic. Add the spices and simmer5 minutes.  Mix in the corn, beans tomatoes and salsa.  Spread quinoa in a large baking dish that has been sprayed with non-stick spray. Spread the turkey mixture over the quinoa.
Bake at 450°F for 20 minutes.  Add the cheese and bake another 5 minutes.

Nutritional Information:
Calories: 472
Fat: 5 g
Carbs: 73.3 g
Fiber: 15.4 g
Protein: 37.6 g

9 Weight Watcher points