Spinach Artichoke Quinoa Casserole |Cooking With Amanda

Spinach Artichoke Quinoa Casserole Photo

Oh tangy artichokes, combined with ooey-gooey salty Parmesan cheese and tender spinach, how do I love thee?

Let me count the ways:

I can turn you into an adorable breakfast-bite of spinach artichoke mini fritattas, or hot spinach and artichoke dip for some pre-dinner munchin', ORR I can even turn you INTO dinner with some spinach and artichoke stuffed chicken breasts.

I could go onandonandon with my love but, let's stop there. Because we have a new obsession to add to the potentially-super-long-list: spinach artichoke quinoa casserole WITHHHH cauliflower alfredo sauce.

AKA: super smooth and luscious, melty cheese swimming in CREAMY, secret-hidden-vegetables-say-WHAA-garlic-y sauce, vibrant, FRESH, HEALTHY spinach and bites of tangy artichokes allllll swirled around with chewy quinoa.

Ummm HI, my name is Taylor and I want to shovel this quinoa casserole into my super-easy-recipe-loving self for all the dinners that remain in my life. ßBOLD STATEMENT. But, TRUF.

Spinach Artichoke Quinoa Casserole Picture

Cauliflower alfredo sauce, although it is not new and hot and trendy anymore, it's still the kind of creamy, saucy happiness that fills your pasta-loving-tummy with all the cozy-feels of a big ol' plate of BUTTER-CREAM-NOT-HEALTHY Alfredo sauce but, liiike, it ALL VEGETABLES YO'. If you're one of those suspicious humans who is rolling their eyes at me as I sing the yummy praises of cauliflower turning into sauce and telling you it tastes like it's cream-laden counter-part, and straight up thinkin' "she's lying," well, I UNDERSTAND YOU.

I was one of you. I was on the outside of the cauliflower-can-do-all-things secret circle. I mean, I was pretty on board with cauliflower mashed potatoes and you KNOW I love me some cauliflower rice, but sauce?

Umm. Nope. Not happening to my face ever.

Spinach Artichoke Quinoa Casserole Image

BUT temptation in the form of Pinterest happened. Real talk: If you see 32 bazillion cauliflower sauce recipes on your screen at once, something in your brain flips and tells you to MAKE IT RIGHT NOW. EVERYBODY IS DOING RIGHT?

The fear of missing out? This girl. RIGHT HERE.

F-I-N-A-L-L-Y stubborn Taylor was all "let's just do this thang and prove to everyone that they are wrong and I am right about this sauce-y shenanigans"

Peeps. I'm gonna put my big-girl-pants on and admit: I was W-R-O-N-G.

There's this odd thing that happens when you put a little bit of roasted garlic (<3 <3 <3) tender, golden brown onion, a dash of salt and pepper and a few healthy Tablespoons of salty stock into a blender….then add cauliflower. It's odd in the fact that you're eating pureed vegetables are you're TOTALLY okay with it. Like, on its own. Maybe it doesn't even need to be a sauce?

Don't listen to the above sentence. In this quinoa bake, it NEEDS to be a sauce. It's the kind of creamy that juuuuust binds the chewy morsels of quinoa, ooey-gooey melted cheese and all those bursts of juicy artichokes into that perfect casserole consistency that is scoop-able, warm + so so cozy.

Preeee much we need to just pinky promise that we will all make this for dinner tonight mmkay?

I meannnnn, there is just so much goodness that your face needs to be IN ON.

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Spinach Artichoke Quinoa Casserole Recipe

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Ingredients

1 small head garlic, chop it in half if it's quite large
1/2 cup quinoa, uncooked
2 cups reduced sodium vegetable broth, divided
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1 cup water
3 cups cauliflower, cut into bite-sized florets, 260 grams
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1/3 cup onion, roughly chopped
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
black pepper
1/2 14.5 ounce can quartered artichoke hearts, drained and roughly chopped, about 3/4 cup packed
1 1/2 cups roughly chopped spinach leaves, packed
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, divided

Directions

Preheat your oven to 400°F.
Chop the top of the head of garlic off so the tips of the cloves are exposed and rub a drizzle of olive oil into the head of garlic.
Place two pieces of tinfoil on top of each other (shiny side inwards) and wrap the garlic up tightly. Place on a small pan and bake until the garlic is soft and roasted, about 35-40 minutes.
Turn the oven down to 350°F.
Spray an 8x8 inch pan with cooking spray and combine the quinoa, 1 cup of broth and 1/4 teaspoon of salt inside it, stirring well.
Cover with tinfoil and bake until the broth is absorbed, about 35-40 minutes.
While the quinoa cooks, combine the remaining broth and water in a large pot and bring to a boil.
Once boiling, add in the chopped cauliflower, cover and boil until the cauliflower is fork-tender, about 6-7 minutes.
While the cauliflower cooks, heat the olive oil in a medium pan over medium/high heat. Add in the onion and stir until golden brown, about 4-5 minutes.
Using a slotted spoon, transfer the cauliflower into a large, high-powered blender. Add in the cooked onion, red pepper flakes, the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt and a few good pinches of pepper.
Finally, add in 2 Tablespoon of the liquid that you cooked the cauliflower in and squeeze all of the roasted garlic into the blender.
Blend until smooth and pureed, scraping down the sides as necessary.
Once the quinoa is cooked, stir in all of the cauliflower Alfredo sauce, along with the chopped artichoke hearts, spinach leaves and 1/4 cup of the grated Parmesan cheese.
Stir until well combined and the spinach begins to wilt. Cover and bake for another 15 minutes.
Finally, sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese over the top of the casserole and bake, uncovered, until lightly golden brown, about 15-20 minutes.
Let stand for 5-10 minutes (it's hot) and DEVOUR!