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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