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Casseroles remind me of old people. I feel like I’m not allowed to cook one unless I’m over the age of 80, decked out in a floral apron circa 1950. For the most part I love eating casseroles (more on that later), but I just feel like a sham when I’m cooking one. I’ve always wanted to do a behind the scenes of what food bloggers actually look like when they’re cooking. But sadly I think you would all be immensely disappointed by mine. I generally look like a train wreck when I’m cooking and that’s exactly how I like it. And I don’t do aprons. I just pretend that getting flour all over yourself is part of  “the art”. Sacrifices people.
My Mom makes a killer mushroom barley casserole. It’s normal for a kid to beg their Mom to make mushroom barley casserole for Friday night dinner right? But then I went to university and the casserole was officially killed for me. When I was picking my residence for university I opted for a single room with a shitty cafeteria versus a shared room in a converted hotel with a chef. I know, a momentary lapse of foodie judgment. The food was by far the worst I have ever tasted with a new level of awful reached on Fridays.
Fridays were “casserole days” aka everything from the week that they didn’t want going to waste mixed together and baked. I genuinely had no idea a TVP, pea, cous cous and mac and cheese casserole could even be considered a meal . Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for strange combinations, but they have to taste good. Let’s just say I experienced what I like to call the freshmen “negative 15”. So I was a bit weary to start tapping into the world of casseroles once more. But this Mushroom Quinoa Casserole definitely redeemed them for me. Now who’s going to help me recover from my casserole PTSD?
Mushroom Quinoa Casserole
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa
- 2 cups of water
- 2 tsp of olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 1 lb (or 16 oz) mushrooms, sliced
- 1 tsp tried thyme
- 1 1/2 cups unsweetened plain almond milk
- 3 T tapioca starch (any type of starch will work)
- 3/4 tsp salt
- pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Place the quinoa in a fine-mesh strainer, and rinse thoroughly with cold water.
- Add quinoa and 2 cups of water to a pot and bring to a boil.
- Cover and turn heat down to the lowest setting. Cook for 15 mins.
- After 15 mins,remove pot from heat and let stand for 5 mins, covered.
- Remove the lid, fluff the quinoa gently with a fork and set aside.
- Add olive oil and onions to a large pot and cook over medium heat for 5 mins.
- Add chopped mushrooms to pot and cook for another 10 mins.
- Meanwhile, heat almond milk in microwave for 1 min (or on stove until warm but not hot). Stir in tapioca starch.
- Reduce heat to low and add almond milk-tapioca mixture to onions and mushrooms.
- Stir until mixture has thickened.
- Turn off heat and add quinoa to mixture. Stir until well combined.
- Add mixture to a casserole dish and cover. If you don’t have a casserole dish, use a large oven safe dish and cover tightly with tinfoil.
- Bake for 35 mins.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 6
i lovvve casseroles but dont make/eat them as much as i probably would because they totally have a weird stigma! growing up my sister would always request a casserole as her special birthday dinner- why do they have that stigma- they’re so delicious! i never thought of using quinoa- thats such a good idea. also the food at my school was horrible. i think it won an award for being the 5th worst college food in america while i was there. also – dont bother responding to this comment 🙂
I won’t.
Just kidding…I’m kind of obsessed with you. I’ll make you casseroles all day everyday!
love casserole i just dont make it enough,.this sounds sooo good.
Thanks lady!
I hardly every made casseroles just because I haven’t tried to find good recipes. This looks fantastic though. I feel like I should make more vegan casseroles though because they would like life easier with the leftovers. The food at my college was OK. Definitely not that healthy, but I suppose I could have found vegan options if I had tried harder. I only had to eat on campus the first two years though then I shopped for myself which was much better!
I was so happy once I moved out of res! Plus I love grocery shopping 🙂
Yes Davida, please do a behind the scenes shoot. 🙂 🙂
Gosh, casserole days sound completely awful. It sure is a good thing that you can make a kick ass one!
Like I said to Kim, a behind the scenes shoot would be incredibly disapointing!
Uhm, can you please do a behind the scenes shoot? Great, thanks! 🙂
It might make your screen crack!
Oh man, I feel like I could write a novel on the terrible-ness of college dorm food. It definitely ruined a lot of things for me. But this casserole is pretty much the total opposite of anything they served! So wholesome and yummy!
I wish we’d had anything but the casserole!
Bahah casseroles remind me of old people too. I have ideas for a spaghetti squash casserole but keep putting it off for his very reason…you may have inspired me with this delicious looking creation though.
I’m so happy i’m not alone on this! Hope you like 🙂
Haha, I almost NEVER wear an apron either! And it’s a shame because I have a bunch of cute aprons hanging in my kitchen closet that never get used.
Cafeteria food = gross. The one at my school was pretty icky. We had a pizzeria that wasn’t bad, though there was a whole lot of greasiness and artery-clogging food going on there!
Ah a fellow apron virgin! I always seem to be wearing black when I’m baking though and get flour everywhere!
My mom never, I mean never made us casseroles. So I feel very deprived of them. Needless to say, I want this casserole NOW. Thank you for sharing. A delicious end to a long Thursday! I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
You too lovely! Wish I could send you some of this goodness!
Family dinners aren’t complete without a good casserole in my family. Although, they usually aren’t as healthy as this one looks. The most common one in my family is called “funeral potato casserole”. It’s loaded with cheese, cream of chicken soup, and potatoes. Definitely not the healthiest but it is pretty dang good. Your recipe looks so good though! (I’m always a huge fan of quinoa)
Can we do a swap?!?! That sounds SO good!