Sunday, October 6, 2013

Caprese Quinoa & Ground Turkey Bake



Ingredients:

1/2 pound ground turkey
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups steamed quinoa/wild rice (from Costco - so good)
2 cups tomato sauce
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/4 teaspoon each: oregano leaves, minced garlic, thyme, onion salt
1/4-1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3/4 cup non-fat milk
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded or shaved
1 cup heirloom or grape tomatoes, halved (I used heirloom)
4-6 large basil leaves, chopped into tiny bits
1 cup spinach, also chopped into bits
1/2 cup skim mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions:
  1.  Heat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Steam quinoa accordingly.
  3. Brown ground turkey with salt and pepper, in a fry pan, set aside.
  4. Over low heat, warm tomato sauce, tomato paste, and the herbs/spices.  When slow simmering, add milk, red pepper flakes, and parmesan cheese.
  5. Remove from heat and fold in ground turkey, steamed quinoa, 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese, fresh basil, chopped spinach, and 2/3 the tomatoes.
  6. Coat a 9x9 cooking pan with non-stick spray and pour the quinoa mixture into the pan.  Top with remaining tomatoes and mozzarella, and cover with foil.  Bake in oven for 15 minutes, then remove foil and bake until cheese is melted on top.  Remove from oven and top with fresh basil ribbons.
This was majorly adapted from an original recipe on Half Baked Harvest.

4 comments:

  1. Looks delicious! Did you put the turkey and spinach in with the quinoa/tomato mixture?

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  3. I'm confused about when you added the turkey and spinach. It doesn't say what you did with them in the directions.

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  4. I made this last night for dinner. I just added the turkey in with the quinoa mix. Once I had that all together, I then added the spinach so it would cook down a bit. Followed the rest of the directions and cooked as directed. It was good.

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