Layer upon layer upon layer
A quinoa one, that is. Quinoa has been a super food winner for the last couple of years, and I’ve been on that bandwagon since living in Chile, where it has always been a commonly found staple food, and for good reason – it tastes great, is easy to cook, is suitable for those with wheat allergies, and of course is extremely good for you.
There is a plethora (I just wanted to use that word cos’ it’s a cool one!) of quinoa cookbooks around these days, and I eagerly scour through every new one that comes in at my work. The recipe below is adapted from Cabbage Crockpot Casserole, from Patricia Green & Carolyn Hemming’s new cookbook, Quinoa Revolution.
I don’t usually go in for crockpot recipes that involve a heap of pre-preparation – I do like to just throw it all in – but I had plenty of time on this day so was happy to brown the mince before putting it in the crockpot, and it was simple enough to do. Everything else is just layered over the top and then it is switched on and ignored for the day.
I don’t feel the passata on the top added anything really, so next time I will just leave that top bit out – it doesn’t really mix in through the rest, and just stays as a layer of tomato “paste”, when you serve it. Just tinned tomatoes is enough I think.
Layered Beef Casserole
1 tbsp olive oil
500 gms minced beef
1 brown onion, cut into wedges
4 slices rindless bacon, fat cut off, roughly chopped
3/4 cup red quinoa
1 green capsicum, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 green cabbage, roughly chopped
cracked pepper, to taste
400 gm can diced tomatoes
700 ml bottle bought passata
Heat olive oil in a large pan or wok, and saute the beef for a couple of minutes, stirring to break up lumps, until lightly browned. Drain in a colander and if it is a fatty mince, rinse through with hot water.
Place meat in crockpot. Place all other ingredients on mince, layered in the order given.
Cook on LOW for 8 hours or HIGH 4 hours.
If desired, serve with mashed potatoes and a green vegetable, or salad and garlic bread.
Serves 4-6
I don’t think this wins a lot of points for looks, but the flavours are great.
Happy Fooding!
