Spaghetti Squash Quinoa "Ground Beef" Casserole (vegan)

It's been a while since I've posted something completely healthy on the blog. All of those tasty Halloween treats derailed my veggie cooking for a little while. 

I wanted to come up with something hearty and filling with a low calorie count that also was full of yummy deliciousness. I decided to see if I could keep it vegan too. 

I'm nowhere near an expert when it comes to vegan or vegetarian cooking but I am pretty sure this is completely vegan. Please correct me if I am mistaken!

Sue's daughter, Kenzie, went through a period where she wanted to try being vegetarian. She tried Yves brand Mexican Ground Round and really enjoyed it so I decided to give it a try in my casserole. 

This turned out sooooo tasty! 

I plugged the ingredients into Myfitnesspal and I have some good news!!

For 1/4th of the recipe, the nutritional info is: 200 calories, 29 carbs, 3 fat, and 18 protein. 

200 calories for 1/4 of a 9 X 9 pan of casserole?? Crazy, right?

Spaghetti Squash, Quinoa, "Ground Beef" Casserole

Ingredients

1/2 small tomato

4 cups spaghetti squash, cooked and shredded

1 pkg (340 gr) Yves Mexican Veggie Ground Round 

1/2 green pepper, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup onion, diced

1 small carrot, diced

1 cup mushrooms, sliced

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/2 cup black quinoa (cooked)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9 X 9 baking dish with cooking spray, set aside.

In a Magic Bullet (or blender), blend the 1/2 of a small tomato until smooth. Pour the tomato puree into the 9X9 pan and spread evenly. Set aside.

Top with 2 cups of the spaghetti squash.

Crumble the Veggie Ground Round and sprinkle on top of the squash.

Layer the remaining 2 cups of spaghetti squash on top of the ground round.

In a frying pan - cook the green pepper, garlic, onion, carrots, and mushrooms over medium heat. Add in the chili powder, cumin, garlic & onion powder. Cook and stir until veggies have softened, about 5 - 7 minutes. Add the cooked quinoa into the veggies and stir to combine. 

Spread the veggie quinoa mixture over the layer of spaghetti squash.

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes, until dish is heated through. Remove from oven and serve hot.

Yay to healthy AND tasty!

If you want to make this with lean ground beef or ground turkey you certainly could. The veggie ground round is flavored with "taco" seasonings so if you went with the beef or turkey you would probably want to up the spices in the recipe above - probably by double. 

Oh, I used black quinoa in this recipe but you can use regular or red quinoa with no problems. 

Please let us know if you give it a try. We'd love to hear from you!

Don't forget to visit Carole's Chatter for some fun food links!