Mexican Stew

A friend had pinned this recipe on her Pinterest board; since she is also the friend who made the blueberry oatmeal bake, I looked over the recipe and was intrigued. I’d already decided 2015 would be the year I would master cooking butternut squash and I figured I might as well get an early start.

I have a red enchilada sauce recipe but in this case because I was short on time, I opted for the canned stuff. I used beans I’d cooked, but they didn’t have any extra seasoning in them, and in the interest of convenience, I used the prepackaged taco seasoning—this is box cooking at its finest! Otherwise, it’s an easy dish to make and also cooks up pretty fast in the slow cooker. It’s a stew, not a soup.

Updated to add that I get better results if I cook the quinoa separately from the rest of the stew, then add it in at the end.

Ingredients 

• 1 pound butternut squash, cubed
• 1 can corn
• 2 C cooked black beans
• 1 C uncooked quinoa, rinsed
• 1 large can fire-roasted petite diced tomatoes (29 ounces)
• 1 small jalapeno, optional
• 1 batch enchilada sauce (about 29 ounces)
• 1 cup vegetable or chicken broth, or water (I use water and rinse out the cans)
• 1 packet (1.25 ounces) taco seasoning

Directions

• If your slow cooker isn’t non-stick, consider using some kind of cooking spray.
• Assemble all the ingredients except the quinoa in the slow cooker.
• Stir well.
• Cook on high for about four and a half hours (no clue what the time would be if you did it on low).
• Follow the package directions to cook the quinoa.
• Add to the slow cooker and stir. 
• Enjoy!