Cheesy? Yep. Got some spice? Yep. One pan meal that gets everyone coming back for more? HELL YES! Not your every run of the mill casserole, this is something new on my rotation ... when it's less hot outside so I'm not running up my electric bill using my AC. I adapted the recipe since my house isn't vegan, but here is the original recipe along with some side notes on what I did (marked with * just so you know). Now what did I do with that water before I breathe fire ...

Ingredients:
3 cups quinoa, dry and uncooked
8 oz frozen corn kernels
2 15oz canned black beans
1 lb canned marinara sauce
8 oz extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated
8 oz mozzarella cheese, grated
1 cup chipotle sauce*
2 cups cruciferous veggie mix**
3 cups hot water
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped***
Optional: Scallions for topping

*You can buy this in stores or in my case, make it yourself. You can make your own chipotle sauce by placing chipotles in adobo sauce in your blender with some tomato juice. If you use this make sure you add a bit less of it because it will be more concentrated. 1/2 cup of the sauce, depending on how spicy you want your quinoa, should be enough. If you choose to make your own chipotle sauce add an extra 1/3 cup water to the quinoa.

**Cruciferous veggies - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crucif.....ous_vegetables - yeah I had to look that up myself. I used 2 cups shredded cooked chicken instead.

***BUT BIRDIE, CILANTRO TASTES LIKE SOAP! Have you seriously eaten enough soap to know this? I can understand not liking the taste of this herb, too much can ruin a dish. I don't suggest leaving this out; however, if you want to only use about half the amount, that's ok. As you can see from my pic, I didn't top it with cilantro because my one roommate said the same thing. Choice is yours.

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

In a 9 x 13 rectangular baking dish (like 5qt capacity as the quinoa will expand), add all of the ingredients and mix through. Save some of the grated mozzarella cheese, and cilantro to sprinkle over the top. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake covered for 1 hour.

Remove the aluminum foil and sprinkle the rest of the cheese all over the dish and bake uncovered for another 30 minutes or until the quinoa is completely cooked. You may want to use your broiler for 2 minutes to brown the top a bit when it's done cooking.
When the casserole is done sprinkle the rest of the cilantro (or scallions) over the top and serve while still warm.

FIRE IT UP! FIRE IT UP! FIRE IT UP!