In an attempt to name this recipe, a full blown pornographic conversation ensued among a few blogger friends who shall remain nameless to save them from the shame.

I, however, have no shame.

Evidenced by the fact that my 10 year old neighbor witnessed me topless on Monday after a photoshoot involving a neon shirt and silver platter necessitated it (long story I won’t even get into).

Apparently the words “meat”, “meaty”, “beef” and “loaded” all conjure phallic images in our minds though and so coming up with a name for this quinoa bake that just happens to be filled with ground beef resulted in a conversation involving far too many male anatomy emojis than one should ever see.

I decided to go the least “offensive” route there was and call it a beef pesto quinoa bake.

This healthy, gluten-free pesto quinoa beef bake is something you can feel good about putting on the table for dinner.

But, I can’t say I’m really thrilled with it.

Looking at the title of this post makes me cringe just a little as I picture the combination of keystrokes that I learned earlier today and an act I’d rather not think about while discussing food.

Although, here I am discussing right next to food.

Ha.

Pesto quinoa bake with ground beef and melted mozzarella, a healthy casserole everyone will love.

So let’s forget about the meat/beef in here and just talk about the quinoa, pesto, tomatoes, peas and ricotta.

It’s a delicious, summer throw together kind of a meal with a bunch of healthy, seasonal ingredients topped with creamy cheese and baked off. It’s kept simple by some convenient short cuts like using a premade pesto. Although, you can always make your own. I love the flavor of arugula pesto this time of year.

Beef pesto quinoa bake is an easy throw together dinner casserole perfect for feeding the family during the week.

Let’s just forget the emoji discussion ever happened.

If you want more ways to enjoy ground beef that maybe don’t involve words like “beefy” or “meaty” try this recipe for a burger in a bowl (it’s even got a homemade burger special sauce!) or, mapo tofu which combines ground beef and tofu in a lovely traditional Chinese dish.

And here’s a skillet meal made in 30 minutes that uses ground beef too – ground beef and sweet potatoes.