Grandma's Garden and The Summer of Unending Zucchini - Slow-Cooker Quinoa-Summer Squash Casserole

Growing up, we lived only a few miles away from my Dad's Mom. My grandparents had a really big lot and one fall, we all went over there and started working on creating a garden. It was laid out in three sections, making a sort of U-shape in the backyard. Along the rear property line, there were sunflowers. One patch had tomatoes, and I can't remember what else was there because I stumbled upon some big gross tomato worms early on and never wanted to go near them again. (What an idiot! Your own tomato plot? Heaven!) One patch had other various assorted veggies including corn, and the third plot was sort of the melon patch.

I remember some pumpkins in the melon patch, and spaghetti squash, which we all thought was really, really cool. But then there was the zucchini.

The zucchini took over, and there were zukes as far as the eye could see. And following the bounty from Nature was the bounty from Grandma's kitchen. The Summer of Zucchini was filled with more uses for zucchini than Bubba had for shrimp. We had stuffed zukes, zucchini bread, zucchini jam, you name it. We were so bloody sick of zucchini within a few weeks. We pooped green the whole time. It has taken years for me to get over it.

But I am over it, and back to loving all squashes, even zucchini. Here's a somewhat healthy dish with quinoa and lots of veggies, including tomatillos. Love, love, love tomatillos. Saw an Anne Burrell recipe for Braised Chicken with Tomatillos and Jalapenos. I'll do that one soon!

Mangia!

Slow-Cooker Quinoa-Summer Squash Casserole
Adapted from Eating Well

• 16 ounces tomatillos, husked, rinsed and chopped
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, chopped
• 1 poblano or bell pepper, chopped
• ½ cup finely chopped white onion
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 cup crumbled cotija or feta cheese, divided
• 2 pounds small yellow summer squash, cut into ¼-inch slices (I went with half summer squash, half zucchini. Yes, I am over it now.)
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh oregano
• 
  

Directions: Combine tomatillos, tomatoes, pepper, onion, lime juice and salt in a medium bowl. Coat a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Layer quinoa, ⅓ cup cheese and all of the squash in the slow cooker. Top with another ⅓ cup cheese. Spread the tomatillo mixture on top, but don’t stir the ingredients together. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours. Serve sprinkled with oregano and the remaining ⅓ cup cheese.