Pesto Chicken & Vegetable Quinoa Bake

Preheat your oven to 375 F.

For the quinoa:

Put the water and quinoa into a saucepan. Bring water to a boil then lower the heat to simmer, cover and cook until soft, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

For the roasted garlic:

Cut off just enough of the top of the garlic heads to expose all of the cloves inside. Next, find your trusty pie pan and drizzle a little olive oil (1 or 2 tablespoons) in the pan and tilt the pan around to coat the bottom thoroughly.

Next, place the garlic heads, cut side up, in the pan. If the heads won’t sit flat on the pan, just give the bottom a little slice to even it out. Drizzle the exposed cloves with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. You want them to have a coating of moisture so they won’t burn easily.

Cover the pan with aluminum foil, place in the oven and bake for 40 to 45 minutes. When it has finished roasting, remove from oven and set aside.

For the vegetable/quinoa Mixture:

Drizzle 1 teaspoon of olive oil into a large skillet over low-medium heat. Add the onion and mushrooms and cook for about 7 minutes, until golden brown, stirring frequently.

Add the Brussels sprouts, red bell pepper, and orange bell pepper to the skillet and saute until the veggies begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Lower to medium heat, add the sun-dried tomatoes and capers and saute for another 2 minutes. Stir in the pesto, chicken, chicken broth, and black beans.

Fluff the cooked quinoa with a fork and add it to the skillet. Gently squeeze the roasted garlic into the skillet until the cloves pop out. They should be quite mushy. Still until well combined, it’s okay if the garlic doesn’t break up.

The quinoa mixture should have some moisture because it still has to bake in the oven. If the mixture looks like it is coming together in one big ball add another 1/4 cup of water. Stir in the basil (reserve about 2 tablespoons for garnish) and salt to taste.

Transfer to a 11×7 baking dish and top with shredded cheese. Bake 30 minutes, or until the cheese is hot and bubbly. Top with reserved basil and serve immediately.