Before we get into this, I must apologize for the photos. I had planned on taking a “before” picture but all I have for you is the “after”. I made this dish last weekend for the potluck that our building was having after our semi-annual work party – you know, shovelling gravel and brushing away pooling water from the roof. It actually was pretty fun, largely because our apartment is full of great neighbours – thankfully there are no strata horror stories in our building. But the afterwards potluck was where the real action was.
I had actually made this meal the night before, but I misjudged how long it would take to reheat in the oven and ran late to the potluck. Hence, no pretty photos. Happily, this dish was quickly demolished and received rave reviews. Despite the lack of photographic evidence, you’ll have to trust me that not only did this meal look great, it’s a clear winner.
It’s a healthy vegetarian dish that can easily be made vegan by leaving out the goat cheese. The added bonus is that the quinoa is uncooked when it goes into the dish – it helps to save a step on a busy weeknight! No pre-cooking the quinoa required – it all gets puffed up and tender in the oven. I’ve made this meal before and used less kale – only half a bunch, but it improves greatly by adding in an entire bunch. I had some cute baby tomatoes, so I added those in, but when the weather gets colder, using some sun-dried tomatoes would really hit the spot here….maybe even with a drizzle of the sun-dried tomato oil over top of the goat cheese for the final go in the oven. We eat this as a main entree, but I could see this being a great side for Thanksgiving this weekend.
quinoa & chickpea bake topped with goat cheese
1 bunch of kale
1 T olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
2 ribs of celery, diced
1 red sweet pepper, diced
1 jalapeño pepper, seeds removed, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 cherry tomatoes, diced
zest from 1 lemon
juice from 1/2 a lemon
1 14oz can chickpeas drained or 1.5 c cooked chickpeas
1 c quinoa (any colour)
1 1/14 c vegetable or chicken stock
5 oz goat cheese, sliced into roundsPreheat oven to 425F.
Wash kale and remove tough stems. Slice into thin ribbons and set aside.
In a large skillet, heat olive oil over med-high heat and add onions, celery, red pepper, garlic and jalapeño, stirring occasionally until soft – about 5 minutes. Add in the kale and let it reduce in size and turn bright green. Stir in chopped tomatoes along with the lemon zest and remove from heat.
Dump the contents of your skillet into an 8″x8″ pan. Add in lemon juice, chickpeas and quinoa along with the stock. Stir gently to combine. Cover the pan with foil and bake for 25 minutes – or until only a little of the liquid remains. Remove foil, top with goat cheese rounds and bake uncovered for 10 more minutes until all the liquid is gone and the goat cheese gets a little melty. Serve immediately.
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Question about the recipe – is the quinoa pre-cooked? Or do you dump it in raw and it cooks in the oven with everything else?
Annie, the quinoa is uncooked when it goes into the oven – dumped into the pan raw. The high oven temp and the foil help to steam the quinoa which makes it an easy & complete meal to whip up.
this sounds fabulous, and just the thing to reload with after a long day. Don’t apologize for the photos- they’re only a testament to how good it must have tasted!
I love everything about this! Favorite part? Your category of “Easily Vegan”… what a wonderful disclaimer. This dish includes all my favorite foods.
I’m always on the look out for one pot vegetarian meals and this looks great.
Love the sound of this!
..just wondering,when the kale goes in? Maybe with the toms…
When do you add the kale ribbons in? Guessing with the chickpeas and quinoa? Thanks!
Thanks Ruthy & Elizabeth!
Piper, glad you think so too 🙂
Zofia and Erin, oops! Recipe is revised – add the kale after sautéing the onion mixture and before adding in the tomatoes. Thanks!
I love that this is a one bowl casserole! and full of such great flavors. Definitely perfect for a fall celebration!
I made this and liked it. Sauteing the kale seemed to reduces its intensity. Only had Barley, which I parboiled for 10 minutes first as it doesn’t cook as quickly as quinoa. I removed half of the jalapeno seeds but that was a mistake as the dish lacked some punch without it and there’s enough bulk to handle one pepper. I think next time I’d triple the cherry tomatoes but am otherwise very pleased with this healthy dish!
I love this. And I think the lack of before photos is a testament to the dish. 🙂
Wow! Just made this tonight and it is AMAZING!! Thanks so much for the recipe. I’ve never cooked with kale or chickpeas and only used quinoa a few times, I’m so glad to have found a tasty and healthy meal!
Thanks Joanne 🙂
Robert! So glad you enjoyed this one. Yes, I think you could definitely add in more tomatoes – if I had them, I would have added them. Glad you tried this with barley & it worked well 🙂
Thanks Kimberley!
Leanna, so glad you loved this dish – hooray for expanding recipe repertoires and trying new things! Glad it worked out 🙂
No apologies required for the great photos of a nearly empty casserole dish. It just shows how delicious the meal was. I’m assuming you used the soft goat cheese that comes in logs?I wish I had more time to experiment with recipes. I’m just so pooped at the end of the day. I usually make a big meal on Sundays to last me throughout the week. I just heat up a portion of my Tex-Mex inspired casserole and dinner is done. Kind of boring eating the same dish for 4 consecutive dinners but it’s so convenient 🙂
You know it is a good dish when you see an empty bowl like that. Looking forward to trying it out.
Hi,
I was very excited to make this recipe and think it sounds fantastic. However, after cooking for more than 50 minutes, the quinoa is still uncooked and the dish is kind of watery. Any suggestions? Should the stock have been boiling when you put it in?
Thanks JoanneM, it was a delicious meal. Hopefully you’ll get back into cooking once again!
Agreed, Vivien, thanks!
Katie, I’m sorry this didn’t turn out for you. My stock was warm since I used a paste and did heat up the water in the microwave, but it wasn’t boiling. Maybe your quinoa was old? Buy your grains & beans from a shop with high turnover. I made this twice using the same batch of quinoa and it took only 30 minutes to cook.
this recipe was definitely a winner!
Thanks Ash! Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
First of all, I LOVE that serving dish! I’m assuming it’s vintage (not sure), but if not, where did you get it? Second, thanks for a great healthy meal idea – the recipe is pretty much a list of my favourite foods.
Hi Jennifer, it’s a jadeite reproduction that I found a few years ago. A total score! Enjoy the meal, it’s a tasty one 🙂
Thank you for this recipe. I made it for a potluck last week, and still brought enough leftovers home that it made two nice lunches. It received rave reviews. This “casserole” is great cold, too!
This was great! I subbed zucchini for the celery, used more tomatoes, and added ground cumin and Greek oregano, salt and pepper to the veggies. Yum!
Since the first time I made it nearly three years ago, this recipe has become a popular staple at my house. Even my picky teenaged son loves it. Absolutely delicious!
This has been a family favorite for years, I can’t thank you enough for sharing it! Hubby isn’t fond of onions and celery so I leave them out and add more tomatoes. Get this: our son and daughter at university make this regularly in their apartment! I love knowing they are choosing to enjoy healthy food.
I LOVE this recipe! It’s been a go-to favorite for my family for years. I’ve used this base recipe as a way to create other fun recipes as well to have some variety!
I’ve shared this many times with other friends and they’ve all loved it too!
Thank you!
Our family has enjoyed this recipe for years! Even the kids love it. Thank you!