Everyday Dinners... Turkey Quinoa Enchilada Bake

It's time for another EVERYDAY DINNERS, this week I'm sharing a Turkey Quinoa Enchilada Bake. This one could take a full hour if you didn't do any prep work. Like I mentioned here, I make big batches of quinoa and rice ahead of time and since we were having Nachos a couple of nights before I went ahead and browned my turkey. The only thing I had to saute that night was the corn and peppers, although that could have been done ahead of time as well, the rest was layering and baking with a little shredding. I always buy blocks of cheese instead of shredded. I do this for two reasons, first the price difference for the amount it ridiculous, I'm all for getting a little work out and saving some cash. The second reason is that fact that shredded cheeses are coated with something so that they don't stick together. I don't think they melt a well as freshly shredded cheese, maybe its all in my head but I'll stick with my big blocks of cheese.

This is another one of those recipes where I make way too much so that we have lunches for the next couple of days. I fed all 4 of us dinner, and my husband has seconds, plus we have three lunch portions ready in the fridge. Tomorrow I'll make a big pot of Spicy Peanut Noodles and toss in some steamed veggies for the remainder of the weeks lunches.

Turkey Quinoa Enchilada Bake

Serves 6-8

8 cups cooked quinoa (that's 2 cups uncooked)

½ cup salsa (I've adapted Pioneer Woman's recipe for my own liking)

approximately 1.5 lbs of ground turkey

2 tablespoons Taco Seasoning (Iseriously recommend making your own)

1 16 oz packed of frozen corn kernels, thawed

1 bell pepper, diced

½ can sliced black olives* (optional)

1 10 oz can enchilada sauce

8 oz (I block) Monterrey jack cheese shredded

Preheat oven to 375 F. Prepare your quinoa by bringing 4 cups of water to a bowl, rinse 2 cups quinoa in cold water, drain and add to bowling water. Return to a bowl, turn down to low and cover. Cook 15 minutes. In a medium sized skillet over medium high heat brown ground turkey, add taco seasoning while breaking up with a spoon. Stir in half of salsa to keep it from drying out. Set meat aside. In the same skillet over medium high heat combine corn, bell pepper and remaining salsa. Cook until peppers have softened. In a casserole dish, layer quinoa topping with 1/3 enchilada sauce, then turkey topping with 1/3 of sauce then top with corn mixture and olives and add remaining sauce. Bake for 15 minutes then cover with cheese and bake another 15 minutes.

*I served mine with fresh cilantro and a slice of lime.

**In all honesty you could saute and shred and layer everything the night before, come home from work preheat the oven and toss it in, then top it with cheese. Or in my case I could make it ahead and then the mister could bake it while I'm on my way home. Just a thought.