September Ingredient Challenge Part 1

At the beginning of September or somewhere there abouts, my friend and fellow coach Kasondra posted a request for 10 ingredients to make into a meal or possibly just one dish. I gave her one, and then asked for the list so I could try my hand at it. We are contemplating making this a monthly feature so stay tuned.

September Ingredient List:

1. Squash
2. Coconut milk
3. Sun dried tomatoes
4. Spinach
5. Lemon
   
6. Honey
7. Quinoa
   
8. Tomato
9. Asparagus
10. Cream cheese

This post will focus on the two meals I put together. Part two will focus on my baking endeavors. First off we have a crock pot dish.

Veggie Quinoa Casserole

2 Cups vegetable broth (give or take)

1 Cup quinoa

1 Cup frozen zucchini

1 Cup butternut squash

1 can petite diced tomatoes

15 stalks asparagus

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon rosemary

If using frozen ingredients like I did, you will want to microwave your asparagus so that you can dice it into smaller chunks. Something I learned to late I should have done.

Dump everything in the crock and give it a good stir. Cook on low for three to four hours. Serve warm with a sprinkle of cheddar cheese on top.

Wilted Spinach, Baked Chicken and Baked Potato

I will readily admit that I had contemplated tossing the spinach into the casserole, and then chickened out. I think it would be lovely served on top of this wilted spinach. The recipe for the wilted spinach comes from Rachel Ray. I didn't use nutmeg or fresh garlic. Instead as you see I used dried minced onion and garlic powder. How much? A couple of shakes of each. :) Otherwise, I followed her instructions.

The first time I served it up beside my baked potato with sour cream and underneath my very basic baked chicken (I like garlic powder, black pepper and nutmeg). The next day for leftovers I diced the chicken and served both the spinach and chicken as potato toppings. Yum!