Well folks, I am finally a quinoa believer. After years of quinoa recipe failures that left me disgusted, I have finally found a dish that I can safely say turned my mind back on to using quinoa!
Quinoa is a gluten-free nutritional powerhouse and has been eaten for thousands of years as a cereal (although not technically a grain). Quinoa is an excellent source of fiber, is a complete protein (“complete” meaning it contains all nine ESSENTIAL amino acids that we must consume because our bodies cannot make them), contains more iron than most other grains, and is a good source of calcium, phosphorus, folate, and many of the B vitamins! It is also high in manganese, an antioxidant that helps ward off cancer cells!
This dish was divine; the sweet from the red pepper complimented the warm, savory flavors from the filling perfectly. Not to mention that with 10 grams of fiber per serving, you will be left feeling full for hours!! For skeptics out there, my husband Brandon rated this dish a 6 out of 10 (meaning he would eat it again but felt it needed more beans). Fair enough, that tweak is pretty simple! I thought it was more like a 7 or 8 out of 10 (meaning I would definitely add more beans but loved the combination of flavors)!!
Now what are you waiting for? Go make this!
QUINOA STUFFED PEPPERS
Serves 8 (I made half)
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped (~1 cup)
- 2 Tbs. olive oil
- 2 ribs celery, finely chopped (~1/2 cup)
- 1 Tbs. ground cumin
- 2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp.)
- 10-oz spinach (frozen or fresh…I used fresh)
- 2 15-oz. cans diced tomatoes, drained but reserve the liquid!!
- 1 15-oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 3/4 cup quinoa (uncooked)
- 3 large carrots, grated (1 1/2 cups)
- 1 1/2 cups grated reduced-fat pepper Jack cheese, divided (but optional)
- 4 large red bell peppers, halved lengthwise, ribs removed
1. In a saucepan, add onion and celery, cooking ~5 minutes, or until soft. Add cumin and garlic, and sauté 1 minute. Stir in spinach and drained tomatoes. Cook 5 minutes, or until most of liquid has evaporated.
2. Stir in the black beans, quinoa, carrots, and 2 cups water. Cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes, or until quinoa is tender. Stir in 1 cup cheese (if desired). Season with salt and pepper, if desired.
3. Preheat oven to 350°F. Pour liquid from tomatoes in bottom of baking dish.
4. Stuff each bell pepper half with heaping 3/4-cup quinoa mixture, and place in baking dish. Cover with foil, and bake 1 hour. Uncover, and sprinkle each pepper with 1 Tbs. remaining cheese. Bake 15 minutes more, or until tops of stuffed peppers are browned. Let stand 5 minutes. Transfer stuffed peppers to serving plates, and drizzle each with pan juices before serving.
Nutritional profile: 280 calories, 10 g fat, 3 g sat. fat, 14 g protein, 36 g carbohydrates, 10 g fiber, 9 g sugar, 515 mg sodium
QUESTION: Have you used quinoa before?? Can you share a link to a recipe?
[...] Quinoa Stuffed Peppers – The Healthy Apron [...]
I love quinoa!! In fact, I had it last night instead of rice for my stir fry. I’ll be posting my FAVORITE quinoa salad in the next couple weeks…so stay tuned. It’s seriously the best salad I have ever had. It’s a healthy addiction, I would say
Isn’t quinoa great? I’ve been using it more and more these days. Your peppers look astounding! Thanks for sharing all this culinary goodness. I hope you sleep well tonight and wake up refreshed and ready to embrace the new day!
I love quinoa! I’ve never put them in peppers. What a good idea!
I’ve never actually heard of quinoa before. I’ll have to try it out!
Hii! This looks great~I don’t have a link, but I’ve made quinoa in the form of breakfast porridge style, with fruits, nuts, nut butters, etc. And I have used it as a salad ingredient as well.
Thank you for putting this recipe on your blog. I love quinoa and became a fan after I started the gluten free diet. Here is another recipe that I use
Ingredients
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium zucchini, halved and thinly sliced
1 1/4 teaspoons fine sea salt, divided
1 1/4 cups quinoa, rinsed for 1 minute under running water
2 1/2 cups water
Zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Lots of chopped fresh dill
Crumbled feta (optional)
Method
Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add zucchini and 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring, until zucchini is crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Remove zucchini from the pan and add quinoa, water and remaining 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer, covered, until quinoa is tender but still chewy and a white spiral-like germ appears around each grain, about 15 minutes.
Toss quinoa with zucchini, zest, lemon juice and dill. Serve
Sometimes I do quinoa veggies and shrimp with lemon juice/zest
This looks wonderful! I’ve been wanting to try quinoa for ages!
Thank you, thank you! I love quinoa and am always looking for interesting recipes. This looks delish.
I KNOW I’ll love this recipe! Quinoa is truly a wonder food…It’s probably my favorite grain. Whole Foods has an amazing quinoa salad that I eat at least twice/week. I also love making quinoa tabbouli (quinoa, feta, red onion, parsley, lemon juice and olive oil). You can up the protein count by adding chicken too!
I have a whole bag of Quinoa downstairs that I have been wanting to use. Thank you so much for this recipe!
xoxo
Kathleen
What I wouldn’t give to have my husband remark that a dish needs MORE beans!
However, he has become a fan of rice dishes, so I’m thinking I can slowly make the transition with a dish like this. He’ll have no idea what he’s eating, but I will, and I’ll love it!
I have quinoa for breakfast. I have a great, simple recipe that I got from a blog. Unfortunately, I can’t remember who’s =(
2/3 C Water
3 Tbs quinoa (rinsed)
2 Tbs Oatmeal
1/4c Berries or fruit of your choosing
Sweetener (Splenda, Stevia, ect)
Add water and quinoa to a small saucepan on low heat for three minutes. Add in oatmeal and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Add in fruit. Sweeten if desired.
Protein packed way to start the day and it is super easy. I have been adding frozen mixed berries when I add in the oats so they defrost quickly with out over cooking anything else. Agave nectar is also a nice alternative if you want to sweeten it.
I make a Quinoa Stuffed Pepper dish, haven’t in a while be think it’s time ot do so again. Yours looks AMAZING!!!
Oh, I should add that I dont use sherry, I did use white wine once, but other than that I just skip that step and everything is always perfect!
I have mixed quinoa stuffed peppers into my semi-regular routine. Kids and the BF love it!
Receipe from the Ancient Harvest Quinoa box
(from the back of the Traditional Box)
(4 Servings)
1 cup Traditional Quinoa
2 cups Water
4 large or 6 medium Green Peppers
1 medium Onion, diced
1/2 lb. fresh Mushrooms, sliced
2 Tbsp. Butter
1 – 28 oz can Tomatoes, coarsely diced (reserve juice)
2 Garlic cloves, crushed
1 – 12 oz jar Mexican Salsa
2 Tbs. Dry Sherry
10 oz Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
Pre-heat oven to 325° F. Cook traditional quinoa following basic directions (add 1 cup quinoa to 1 1/2 cups boiling water, return to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer and cook until water is absorbed, about 15 minutes). Steam 4 large or 6 medium green peppers until soft but not limp. In a large skillet, saute the onion and mushrooms in butter. Add the diced tomatoes (reserve the juice). Add the crushed garlic and Mexican salsa. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. Add the sherry and simmer 10 more minutes. Fold in quinoa. Place peppers in baking dish and fill with quinoa mixture. This will take about half the mixture. Thin remainder with reserved juice and pour around peppers.
Sprinkle shredded mozzarella over peppers and bake in 325° F. oven for 30-35 minutes.
this looks great!! yum!
These sound delicious!(I have never made stuffed peppers, need to change that!)
Someone made quinoa for me once and I loved it! I’ve never made it myself though.
I still haven’t tried making quinoa, but this recipe looks so good!
Almost forgot! Here’s a recipe for a quinoa salad! <3 Quinoa Salad
I actually hate rice so rarely see stuffed pepper recipes that look good to me. The quinoa, however, looks like the perfect stuffing!
I LOVE quinoa, and don’t make it often enough. You’ve inspired me, I’m going to make a quinoa dish before the week is up!!! Have a great day!!!
Mmmm I love quinoa!! We have it probably once per week. Here is a link to a recipe I make a lot: http://vegvacious.blogspot.com/2011/02/greek-style-quinoa-salad.html
I have some peppers I need to use up and I was planning to make stuffed peppers tomorrow – thanks for the inspiration!!
I love quinoa! I try to make a big pot of steamed quinoa on the weekend so I can heat and eat throughout the week. Here’s a link to my tutorial…seriously it makes the fluffiest quinoa ever.
http://followmyfitsteps.com/tutorials/how-to-make-the-worlds-best-quinoa/
I’m bookmarking this recipe…red peppers are on sale this week
I make stuffed peppers with couscous but quinoa sounds like a perfect substitute. I’ve had it for a while but seem to pick something else over it everytime!
yum!!! these look very similar to one of my favorite dinners. love it! glad you’re on the quinoa bandwagon
Heck yes! I love quinoa!
Sweet: http://shannalikebanana.wordpress.com/2011/02/14/sweet-quinoa-with-maple-cran-apples-and-almonds/
Savory: http://shannalikebanana.wordpress.com/2010/07/11/stuffed-peppers-and-black-bean-quinoa/
iloveyouiloveyouiloveyou! YES! I am so making this! =)
I have tried quinoa for breakfast (boiled with vanilla almond milk and then added blueberries and a dallop of greek yogurt) I really like the added protein in the morning.
Ooo yum! Quinoa is one of my favorites. I really like this sweet quinoa dish that I made for Thanksgiving – http://www.dailygarnish.com/recipes?recipe_id=6000065
I love love love quinoa. I will have to find some recipes to link to you but I once posted a spicy red quinoa recipe that was amazing. I also recently had a balsamic mushroom ( i picked out the mushrooms ick) quinoa that had amazing flavor.
nice recipe! i love stuffed tomatoes.
I’ve never eaten quinoa, mostly because I was scared to prepare it! =D
These look amazing!!!
I LOVE the sounds of these! I have made quinoa stuffed peppers in the past and they always leave me totally satisfied. Actually… I might need to make them this week now that you’ve reminded me!