Quinoa Enchilada Casserole

The goal for this dish is lots of flavor and leftovers. I'm capitalizing on the nutritional benefits of quinoa and flavorful home-made enchilada sauce. It looks like this recipe has a lot of ingredients, but it's actually super easy to make. There is hardly any chopping! I'm not a big fan chopping these days. It takes way too much time.

Enchilada Sauce

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 3 tbsp flour
• 1 oz can tomato sauce (or paste. Even chunky pasta sauce works!)
• 2 1/2 cups vegetable broth (you can use water instead, but the sauce will be less savory) 
• 4 1/2 tbsp chili powder (this is not cayenne pepper powder. You've been warned) 
• 1/2 tbsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• salt to taste (1/2 tsp works for me

Casserole

• 1 1/2 cup dry quinoa 
• 20 small corn tortillas, cut in half
• 1 can corn, drained 
• 2 cans black beans, drained 
• 1 large tomato, diced
• 1 bunch cilantro, finely chopped (reserve some for garnish, if desired) 
• 2 cups Mexican blend cheese, divided

Garnish

• avocado
• sour cream 
• cilantro 

1. Heat vegetable oil in a sauce pan. Add flour, stir well, and and cook for 3 minutes until the mixture thickens. Mix tomato sauce with the rest of the ingredients in a small bowl. Add the mixture to the flour and oil in the sauce pan and stir to combine. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 7-10 minutes until the sauce thickens. The sauce is done!

2. Cook quinoa according to package instructions. Drain. Set aside.

3. Preheat oven to 375F. Spray a large casserole dish with cooking spray. (Depending on the size of the casserole dish, you may want to make two casseroles). I'll let you decide how many layers your casserole will have. Lay tortilla chip halves between each layer. Sprinkle with quinoa, corn, black beans, tomato, cilantro, and cheese. Pour the enchilada sauce over the layer. Repeat. Create the top layer with tortilla chips sprinkled with sauce and cheese.

4. Cover the dish with tin foil. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove the tin foil and bake for additional 10-15 minutes.

5. Serve hot garnished with avocado, sour cream, and cilantro.