Beef, Eggplant & Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

Beef, eggplant & quinoa stuffed peppers
from http://cleananddelicious.com

Beef, Eggplant, & Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

YIELD: 10 SERVINGS

 

PREP TIME: 40 MINUTES

 

COOK TIME: 30 MINUTES

 

TOTAL TIME: 1 HOUR 10 MINUTES

Ingredients:

• 5 bell peppers
• 1 lb grass fed ground beef
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 medium eggplant, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1-3 tsp Red pepper flakes
• ¼ cup tomato paste
• ¼ cup water
• 1 cup of cooked quinoa
• 1/3-cup fresh chopped parsley
• 5 oz shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Pre heat oven to 350

Halve and seed the bell peppers.  Lay the peppers in single file on a rimmed baking sheet and cook for twenty minutes.

In the meantime, heat one teaspoon of olive oil in a large non-stick sauté pan and add in ground beef along with some salt and pepper.  Use a wooden spoon or spatula to break up the meat and cook for about five minutes or until the meat as browned.  Remove the meat from the pan and set aside.

Add the remainder of the olive oil into the pan along with the onions, and garlic.  Cook for about three minutes before stirring in the eggplant, red pepper flakes, and another kiss of salt and pepper.  Cook until the all of the veggies are soft and tender (this will take about ten or fifteen minutes).  If the pan seems dry add a splash of water.

Add the tomato paste and water to the veggies and stir until all the veggies have been coated with the tomatoes.  Add the beef back to the pan along with the quinoa and adjust the seasonings.  Shut off the heat and stir in the parsley.

Stuff each pepper with about a half-cup of beef and quinoa filling (or as much as it takes to fill the pepper).  Pop the peppers back into the oven for about 20 minutes or until heated through.  Remove from the oven and top each pepper with one tablespoon of cheese and then finish them in the oven for another five minutes or until the cheese has melted.

Enjoy!

Makes 10 servings.

Nutritional Analysis

Nutrients per 1/2 pepper: Calories: 205; Total Fat: 10.7g; Saturated Fat: 3.3g; Cholesterol: 36mg; Carbohydrate: 15.7g; Dietary Fiber: 3.5g; Sugars: 2.7g; Protein: 13.9g

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Discovered this recipe after Jared googled eggplant for me. We've had quite the stash of them from the CSA and though I've decided I really like their taste, I didn't know what to do with them. We found Dani Spies' video Eggplant 101 and then went to her website and found this recipe. We also got a bunch of bell peppers so it was killing two birds with one stone. Maybe it was b/c the boys were really hungry, but everyone really liked it! I only used three peppers since it was just the three of us (and the last time I made stuffed peppers there were a lot of leftovers I had to eat) and froze the remaining stuffing for future use. 

Quinoa Blueberry Muffin

Quinoa Blueberry Muffin
courtesy of Hillbillyhousewife.com

Quinoa Muffins

• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup packed dark-brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cook the quinoa in a cup of water. Bring the mixture to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook for 10 to 15 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed and the quinoa is tender. You will end up with 2 cups of cooked quinoa. Set it aside to cool.

In the meantime combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the quinoa and stir until you have it worked into the flour mixture.

Combine the remaining ingredients in a cup or small bowl, then pour them into the flour / quinoa mixture. Stir it just until everything is combined.

Spray a regular sized 12 cup muffin pan with nonstick spray. Scoop the batter into the tins. Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 25 minutes.

Quinoa Muffin Variations

Here are a couple of “

add-on” ideas for these rather plain quinoa muffins. Incorporate those ingredients with the quinoa into the flour mixture, then proceed as mentioned above.

• 1/2 cup of raisins
• 1/2 cup of chopped dried dates
• 1/4 cup of dried apricots and 1/4 cup of chopped almonds
• 1/2 cup of chopped apple pieces and a good dash of cinnamon
• 1/4 cup of apple finely chopped apple or raisins and 1/4 cup chopped walnut pieces
• 1/2 cup mashed banana and 1/4 cup walnuts
• 1/2 cup fresh, frozen or dried blueberries

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LOVE these! They make such a great quick snack. I used 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 all purpose flour so they were pretty dense and didn't raise much. I made them twice and both times I ended up with 22 muffins. Here is the nutritional info for mine:

Calories: 107

Carbs: 16

Fat: 3

Protein: 3

Fiber: 1

Iron: 4

Cheesy Quinoa Mac N Cheese

Quinoa Mac n Cheese
courtesy of http://aroundthetableri.blogspot.com

Serving Size: 8

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups quinoa, rinsed and drained
• Veggies of your choice (optional)
• good pinch of salt
• a few grinds of seasoning salt
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup soy milk or non-fat milk
• 1 1/2 cups grated Cheddar cheese, more for sprinkling
• Optional- Crushed Red Pepper, Panko Bread crumbs for topping
• Toppings (optional)- salsa, hot sauce, sour cream, scallions

I went through a quinoa phase in February and this is one of the recipes I tried. Since most of my experience with mac n cheese is the boxed kind, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. This certainly got mixed reviews. Matthew and Aaron could leave it, but Jared really liked it as did I though as leftovers it took me a few days to be willing to eat it again. I have realized I really don't care for the texture of quinoa except in breads. It has a distinctive flavor too that I am not all too fond of. Since I added garlic to the water the quinoa was cooked in, it absorbed that flavor and really added a nice touch to the overall dish. 

My variation: added 2 oz of cream cheese to enhance the creaminess as suggested by a commenter on the original blog post and bread crumbs for the topping.