Peppers And Tomatoes Stuffed With Quinoa And Chorizo

I have been intrigued by the idea of stuffed peppers for a long time.  My mother's side of the family immigrated from Eastern Europe two generations ago and stuffed peppers are a favorite in those cultures. I thought the idea of using something hearty and healthy to stuff peppers with sounded like a great idea, but I thought I could put my own spin on it.  I have seen various quinoa stuffed veggies over the years and that seemed like a good start. After some further thought, I decided to use cooked chorizo as the meat in the dish.  Admittedly the sausage makes the dish way less healthy but I do feel less guilty since quinoa rocks as a superfood.  I do have to be honest I made the food more for taste than nutrition but there is at least some nutrition to it with the vegetables, the quinoa and the chia seed.

But that was not the only way I experimented with the dish. While discussing this idea with my wife, she suggested adding a poblano chili to the stuffing and I thought that was an excellent idea. Then, to round out the flavors, we added some chopped onion.  Finally, since my wife is not fond of cooked peppers, we stuffed some tomatoes to suit her tastes. The final dish was as follows:

1 small sweet onion chopped
1 pound chorizo
1 poblano, seeded and chopped
1 cup quinoa, cooked according to directions
About 1 tablespoon of chia seed(Available from Costco)

Peppers and tomatoes, tops cut off and centers cleaned for stuffing

Oven was preheated to 350 degrees.

The chorizo and onion were sauteed together, until the chorizo was cooked through. The chopped poblano was then added and cooked for a few moments. Finally, the cooked quinoa was added, along with chia.  The filling was mixed together and then the vegetables were stuffed.

The stuffed vegetables were placed in the oven and cooked until the tops were browned a bit, about 20 minutes. (Please feel free to cook these to your preference).

Aside from being good eats, I thought the results were attractive:

This was definitely a success and I highly recommend experimenting with stuffed peppers and tomatoes.

Rotisserie Chicken Salad With Raspberry Chipotle Sauce-Served Two Ways

We are big fans of having rotisserie chicken in chunks in the freezer ready to go but we also appreciate fresh vegetables.  I suggested we do some sort of chicken salad with Fischer & Wieser Original Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce  and my wife was instantly thrilled with the idea.

To make a total chicken salad out of it she added some beans and herbs to make it more rounded and varied.  She then served them on top of those wonderful miniature peppers you get at Costco.

Aside from being a tasty combination with a variety of textures, it was also a very pretty dish.

After eating this with total relish I suggested we do something similar but instead stuff some tomatoes.  She also thought that was a great idea and here is the finished dish.

Aside from being delicious and pretty, this was also very portable and made a fabulous lunch for the next day. In fact, my wife took some of these over to my mother and she liked them too.

As I said, having the cooked chicken ready to go is a winning strategy, but combining it with fresh vegetables during the summer is an absolute home run.  We will continue to enjoy fresh veggies for a while and I am sure some more chicken from the freezer will make its way into our meals to compliment the summer bounty of fresh produce.

Peppers And Tomatoes Stuffed With Quinoa And Chorizo

While watching the most recent season of "The Next Food Network Star", I was intrigued by a dish of chicken and quinoa stuffed peppers.  I thought the idea of using something hearty and healthy to stuff peppers with sounded like a great idea, but I thought I could put my own spin on it. After some thought, I decided to use cooked chorizo as the meat in the dish.

But that was not the only way I experimented with the dish. While discussing this idea with my wife, she suggested adding a poblano chili to the stuffing and I thought that was an excellent idea. Then, to round out the flavors, we put in some chopped onion.  Finally, since my wife is not fond of cooked peppers, we stuffed some tomatoes to suit her tastes. The final dish was as follows:

1 small sweet onion chopped
1 pound chorizo
1 poblano, seeded and chopped
1 cup quinoa, cooked according to directions
About 1 tablespoon of chia (Available from Costco)
Peppers and tomatoes, tops cut off and centers cleaned for stuffing

Oven was preheated to 350 degrees.

The chorizo and onion were sauteed together, until the chorizo was cooked through. The chopped poblano was then added and cooked for a few moments. Finally, the cooked quinoa was added, along with chia.  The filling was mixed together and then the vegetables were stuffed.

The stuffed vegetables were placed in the oven and cooked until the tops were browned a bit, about 20 minutes. (Please feel free to cook these to your preference).

Aside from being good eats, I thought the results were attractive:

This was definitely a success. The stuffing of the quinoa and chorizo was flavorful and very satisfying.  As a stuffed vegetable dish this was wonderful, but my wife also had some of the stuffing for leftovers later and she commented it also works well as a stand alone dish.

This was easy, flavorful, and fun and it works well using both the peppers and the tomatoes. It is our guess that this would probably also work well with squash.

If you are looking for a hearty, meaty use of quinoa, this a great idea and I highly recommend this.