Ground Beef Zucchini Casserole

• servings: 6 servings
• active time: 30 minutes
• total time: 55 minutes

Ingredients

1 cup dry quinoa (cooked according to package instructions)

2 tbsp olive oil (divided)

1 lb lean ground beef

3 cloves garlic

1 cup yellow cooking onion (diced)

6 zucchinis (approx 2 lbs, sliced into ¼ inch rounds)

Salt and black pepper (to taste)

2 cups low sugar tomato sauce

1 tsp dried oregano

½ tsp garlic powder

1 tbsp Italian seasoning

1 cup cottage cheese (ricotta cheese will also work)

2 cups mozzarella cheese (shredded)

2 tbsp parmesan cheese

Fresh basil (for topping)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375F and grease a 9x13 inch casserole dish.

Cook quinoa according to package instructions

While the quinoa is cooking- In a large pan over medium-high heat, add ½ of the olive oil (1 tbsp). Once hot, add ground beef, garlic and yellow onions and cook until meat is no longer pink in colour and onions are fragrant and translucent, season with salt and pepper. Drain excess oil and add meat to the casserole dish. Set aside.

In the same pan (don’t clean it), add the remaining olive oil (1 tbsp). Once hot add sliced zucchini and additional salt and pepper. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes, until the zucchini is soft.

To the casserole dish with the meat, add cooked zucchini, spices, cottage cheese, cooked quinoa, sauce and half of the mozzarella cheese. Stir together using a spatula. Gently spread the contents into an even layer in the dish. Top with remaining mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese.

Bake for approximately 30 minutes, setting the oven to broil for the final 5 minutes to brown the cheese (25 on regular bake, 5 on broil). Top with fresh basil and serve!

Nutrition

• Calories: 472 kcal
• Total Fat: 21 g
• Saturated Fat: 9 g
• Unsaturated Fat: 10 g
• Trans Fat: 0.3 g
• Cholesterol: 83 mg
• Sodium: 827 mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 35 g
• Dietary Fiber: 6 g
• Total Sugars: 10 g
• Protein: 37 g