30 March 2012

quinoa stuffed peppers

So DH and I recently discovered/re-discovered the amazingness of quinoa- it's hailed as the "future superfood," yet is actually an ancient grain {a bit of irony, hehe}. Anyhoo, it's got omega-3's, all 8 essential amino acids, and protein. It's technically not even a grain (although you use it like one when cooking) but it's really a grass, well actually, a grass seed. It cooks up just like rice, has a slightly nutty flavor, or can be ground into a flour. Oh! And it's naturally gluten free! Score for me ;)

So, now that I've gone over a few of the perks of quinoa, let's get onto the recipe...
loosely based on the {Incredibly Easy Gluten-Free Recipes} cookbook p. 44
makes: 2 large servings or ~4 side servings

{ingredients}
  • 2 bell peppers, tops removed, seeded & hollowed out
  • 1/2 c. uncooked quinoa
  • 1 c. water
  • 1/2 tsp salt, divided
  • 1 TB olive oil
  • 1/2 onion, chopped
  • 1 medium tomato, chopped
  • 1/8 tsp Italian seasoning
  • 1 TB butter
{directions}
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place quinoa in fine-mesh strainer and rinse well. Bring water and 1/4 tsp salt to a boil, and stir in quinoa. Cover, reduce heat to low. Simmer 12-14 minutes or until quinoa is tender and water is absorbed (like you would with rice).

2. Heat oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Add onion and tomato. Cook 7-10 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in quinoa, remaining 1/4 tsp salt, and Italian seasoning. Add butter and stir until melted.

3. Arrange peppers in baking dish. Fill peppers with quinoa mixture. Bake 15-20 minutes or until peppers are tender (we did ours until peppers were slightly al dente still).

4. Serve warm. A decent main meal for a vegetarian (aka. me), or if you cut the peppers in half after cooking, it would make ~4 side servings.

NOTES:: You can definitely eat this sans peppers... DH and I liked this so much, we had it again the night after and just skipped the peppers! You could also substitute the peppers with a hollowed out onion, tomato, etc. You could substitute the chopped up veggies with pretty much anything you wanted too!

Cross-posted at the cooking blog {Comestibilis}

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7 comments:

RHome410 said...

Isn't quinoa amazing? I'm sure I only use it for a small fraction of recipe possibilities, but I love it. I use it instead of rice all the time now. White rice turns to sugar too fast and brown takes a long time to cook, and it's a hard sell with the family anyway.

Anna said...

Love this, thanks for sharing! I will be trying it this week. :)

Anna
www.askannamoseley.com

Val said...

I'm seeing quinoa everywhere these days! I think this will be our side dish when we have some friends over for dinner next week!

I would love for you to follow my blog too so that we can share ideas!

Your newest follower,
Val @ http://cookcraftcrocheting.blogspot.com/

Stephanie said...

I have been looking for a good quinoa recipe and this is right up my alley... Thanks for sharing!

Stephanie
www.chocolatecoveredbuttons.com

Amy said...

That sounds fantastic! I've used quinoa in different salads and liked it, so I'll have to give this dish a try.

Maria said...

Mmm these look fabulous! I love stuffed peppers, and love quinoa too, and this is such a great substitute for the traditional rice stuffed peppers! Thanks for sharing!

Amanda @ Little House on the Corner said...

Just tried this tonight...two thumbs up! Easy & healthy meal. I'm going to try it again sometime with some different add-ins... maybe Mexican-style? Thanks for sharing the recipe!