Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

Posted on September 7, 2013 by Georgina

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

Hi everyone! Ok I’ve been a busy cooking bee- but a lazy blogger. (for real it’s embarrassing how little I’ve blogged lately- there is reason for it but I’ll save that for a later post!)Needless to say, I can’t wait to share some of my creations with you 🙂 This particular recipe is one of my favorite recent ones! So tasty, easy, and healthy. The perfect trio for an awesome recipe. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Gorgeous right?!

Ingredients

2 cups cooked quinoa
1 (4-ounce) can green chiles
1 cup corn kernels
1 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup diced tomatoes
1/2 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves (I love cilantro so I always add more)
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion or garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder, or more to taste
1/2 teaspoon smokey paprika, or more to taste
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
6 bell peppers, tops cut, stemmed and seeded

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9×13 baking dish with tin foil.
In a large bowl, combine quinoa, green chiles, corn, beans, tomatoes, cheeses, cilantro, cumin, garlic, onion and chili powder, paprika, salt and pepper, to taste.
Spoon the filling each each bell pepper cavity. Place in prepared baking dish, cavity side up, and bake until the peppers are tender and the filling is heated through, about 25-30 minutes.
Serve immediately and enjoy! 🙂
PS. I only cooked 4 peppers since there fewer people I was feeding but then I put the extra quinoa mix in a baking dish, topped with a little more cheese and baked along with the peppers. This was great for lunch throughout the week 🙂 As you can see there was quite a bit of extra “stuffing” so I think you could do more than 6…but experiment! 🙂

I just love how pretty this dish is! So colorful and fresh looking and not to mention out of this world delicious. This is a recipe you could seriously have so much fun with and experiment with different flavor combinations and ingredients. Also easily could be vegan with some small adjustments. Please stop back and share your own concoctions 🙂

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Quinoa with Corn & Scallions

Posted on June 2, 2013 by Georgina

Quinoa with Corn and Scallions

Hello all! 🙂 Hope you’re enjoying the start to “summer”. I always think of Memorial Day as the kick-off to summer even though I know it technically isn’t until June 21st. I think this quinoa side dish is the perrrrfect compliment to a barbecue or picnic, really any where any time, but particularly those 😉 I want to make this recipe again because as you can see from my picture it turned out a little gooier than I would like. Next time will make it a littler drier by undercooking the quinoa a little bit. I hope you guys enjoy this deeeelicious recipe and let me know what you think!

Ingredients:

4 ears corn, shucked (If you want you could use frozen corn and just skip steps 1 and 2 below)
1 Tablespoon grated fresh lemon zest
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 stick (1/8 cup) unsalted butter, melted
1 Tablespoon honey
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
2 cups uncooked quinoa
4 scallions, chopped

Directions:

Place the corn in a large pot and fill it with enough water to cover the corn. Cover the pot and bring it to a boil. As soon as the water comes to a boil, turn off the heat and let the pot stand, covered, for 5 minutes.

Remove the corn from the pot and let it cool on a cutting board until it’s easy to handle. Then, using a sharp knife, cut the kernels off the cob.

Prepare the dressing by whisking together the lemon zest, lemon juice, melted butter, honey, salt and pepper in a large bowl.

Rinse the uncooked quinoa in a sieve under cold water until the water runs clear.

Cook the quinoa in a pot of of boiling salted water per the package directions.

Add the quinoa, corn kernels and chopped scallions to the bowl with the dressing and toss until it’s evenly coated. Season with salt and pepper and serve.(This is my opinion but I think this dish would be awesome served cold too!)

As always, thanks for checking out my blog! Now go out there and enjoy the summer!

xoxo

Creamy Spinach Pasta

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Georgina

Hi all 🙂

Last night I made a super fast meal for me and Jake, Creamy Spinach Pasta mmmmm!

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon of Olive oil

1 clove of garlic

1/2 pound of fresh spinach or about 1 1/4 cups frozen spinach

1 regular sized package of flavored cream cheese of your choosing(I used spinach and artichoke- but chive and onion, or garden veggie, or sun dried basil tomato, all would be good too!)

1/2 pound of pasta

Directions:

Begin boiling water for pasta- when at a rolling boil add the pasta and cook till done.

Meanwhile…..

Heat the olive oil in a medium sized skillet over medium-high, add minced garlic clove and sauté until softened.

Thaw and drain spinach(if using frozen) or add the fresh spinach directly to the pan- either way add the spinach to the pan at this point. If fresh-stir until the spinach is wilted (1-2 minutes).

Add cream cheese and salt and pepper to taste and stir until mixed well.

Here is what mine looked like at this stage:

Add pasta and combine. Serve with parmesan cheese sprinkled over top if desired.

So simple and delicious!

Hope you enjoy! 🙂 Also: enjoy this beautiful week- not sure what the weather is like wherever you are, but it is beautiful like me and I plan to get out and enjoy it. Hope you do the same!

xoxo

Spring Asparagus, Tomato, & Lemon Pasta

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Georgina

YUM! This recipe is seriously SO fast and easy and healthy oh and delicious 🙂

I sorta made this up- so I don’t have exact measurements because I eye-ball things, but I’m gonna do my best to give good directions.

Ingredients:

Pasta(I used fettuccine but you can use whatever you would like)
Olive oil
2 cloves of garlic- minced
1 pound of Asparagus cut into pieces
1 cup of grape tomatoes-halved(Approx. more or less depending on preference)
Fresh lemon Juice(I used the juice from one half of the lemon)
Feta Cheese-crumbled

Instructions:

– Bring pot of water to a boil, add a teaspoon or so of salt along with your pasta and cook uncovered for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

– In a large skillet heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium/high heat. Once hot, add your minced garlic and sauté for about 3 minutes or until it softens a bit-but be careful not to burn it!

-Add your Asparagus pieces and sauté for 8-10 minutes. Add your tomatoes.

-Once your veggies are heated through and soft enough to your liking, remove the pan from heat and squeeze in your lemon juice.

-Drain pasta and place into skillet with asparagus and tomato mixture. Toss enough to combine and then add your chunks of Feta cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste.