Recipe of the week: Beef & Zucchini Bake

This week's recipe is courtesy of "Nourished by Nic", and it packs over 30 grams of protein per serving. Zucchini is one of my favorite summer/into fall veggie choices, and with how busy this time of year gets, a make-ahead/prep-able recipe seemed appropriate to share!

Serves 6.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dry quinoa cooked according to package instructions

• 2 tablespoon olive oil, divided into 2

• 1 lb lean ground beef

• 3 cloves garlic

• 1 cup yellow 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 teaspoon dried oregano

• ½ teaspoon garlic powder

• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

• 1 cup cottage cheese (ricotta cheese will also work, but isn't as high in protein)

• 2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

• 2 tablespoon parmesan cheese

• Fresh basil (for topping)

  
  

Instructions

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

2. Cook quinoa according to package instructions

3. (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 color and onions are fragrant and translucent, season with salt and pepper. Drain excess oil and add meat to the casserole dish. Set aside.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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!

Let me know if you gave this recipe a try and enjoyed it!

Margo