Quinoa stuffed peppers

SO. . .I decided to get cooking again. It's been a busy couple weeks, the kids each had the flu (Little Girl first, then Little Guy, although he had a very mild case), then Little Guy decided to stop using diapers, so that has been an adventure as well, he's doing pretty good now, but it was a rough start. So, I haven't had as much time as I would like to cook, but in between all the illness and potty training, I managed to make these yummy stuffed peppers. My first task was to get my pesto bread started, since it take several hours to rise, I knew I would need a good head start, and while I was kneading away, I decided I would try a new variation of stuffed peppers for lunch.

You may have noticed from my ingredient photos that I keep a lot of my dry goods in glass jars. Well, in the process of filling my quinoa jar yesterday, I ended up with a cup that wouldn't fit in the jar, and it was in an unsealable bag (it was supposed to be a sealable bag, but silly my cut it off when opening thinking it would all fit). So, instead of the traditional rice, I started with a quinoa base, and then opted for a more Italian/Mediterranean type stuffed pepper filled with onion, mushrooms, tomatoes and spinach.

What you'll need
3 bell peppers, halved
1 cup qunioa, rinsed
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
Olive oil
Salt to taste
1 onion, chopped
1 pint mushrooms, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups fresh spinach, chopped
1/4 cup bread crumbs
Balsamic Vinegar

Ever wonder what's going on while I'm taking pictures of produce? Well, here's Little Guy, he was in a chair to the yelling "Cheese" the entire time, I guess he didn't think the tomatoes were looking their best. . .He also took it upon himself to remove the stickers from all the peppers, he's just to finding stickers in books, but was quite happy to learn that he can also get stickers from our fruits and veggies.

 And further out of the picture, but always by my side when I'm cooking something that smells yummy, here's our furry friend, checking things out.

Back to the recipe! Start by combining your broth and quinoa in a sauce pan, bring to a boil and then cover and simmer until the liquid has been absorbed (about 15 minutes).

Meanwhile, heat a saute pan over a medium heat, add some olive oil. Add your chopped onion and garlic, stirring occasionally. After 8 minutes or so, add your chopped mushrooms, cook until softened.

Add the tomatoes, stir to heat. Then add the spinach and cook until wilted, salt to taste.

Once your quinoa and vegetables are done, combine them with the bread crumbs in a large bowl.

Line a baking dish with the pepper halves, spoon the quinoa mixture into the peppers, and drizzle with balsamic vinegar.

 

 

Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Dig in!