Road Trippin': Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

As I alluded to in Tuesday's post, we spent Christmas Week with Thatboy's family.  I'm not going to lie - I was not looking forward to the roadtrip.  

I used to love roadtrips with Thatboy.  We would make a fun day of it - stopping for sightseeing and meals.  We spent the time singing to the radio and talking about everything going on in our lives.

Roadtrips are not as much fun with a small child.  Last year, our 6 hour trip took 12 hours.  We stopped just about every 2 hours so the little guy could get a clean diaper and some food.   When we went to Yosemite over the summer, he spent much of the time needing constant attention from those of us in the front seat.

This year our trip went surprisingly well.  We began by heading off what is always our first toddler tantrum - packing the car.  Thatbaby does not like Thatboy packing up the car.  He wants to go and help.  With that in mind, one of Thatbaby's Chanukah presents this year was his very own luggage!  Luggage that he could take out to the car himself!

We also stuck his constant companion in the backseat with him so he could have company.  Poor Thatdog.  It was not his ideal location.  I had to remove coloring books and magnadoodles from his back several times.  To be fair, at least now I wasn't the only one who was subject to Thatbaby's demand that there be no sleeping in the car.

We managed to make it up with only one stop, when Thatbaby started screaming that he had to get out of the car, and out of the car RIGHT NOW.  Which meant we took a fairly long and early lunch break. But we still managed to make it up to TBIL's house by 6:30pm for their annual Christmas Party. 

I was off cooking for the week, but I'm sure most of you aren't that lucky.  So I'll share with you one of the big hits from the days leading up to our trip.  Stuffed peppers aren't anything fancy, but anything with beans are very popular in my house.  This recipe is a bit of a twist because it uses quinoa instead of rice.  Really, any grain would work well with stuffed peppers - including barley or wheatberry, but quinoa is what I had on hand.

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

1 tsp olive oil

1 cup quinoa

1/2 onion, diced

2 cups vegetable broth

1 can black beans

1 tomato, diced

1 can diced green chiles

4 bell peppers, halved from stem to tip and seeded

1/2 cup grated monterey jack

1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375.  Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat.  Add quinoa and onion and cook until onions are translucent, about 3 minutes.
2. Add vegetable broth and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until all the broth has been absorbed.
3. Add black beans, tomatoes, chiles, and salt and pepper to taste to the quinoa and stir.
4. Microwave the bell pepper halves for 4 minutes to soften, and then divide the quinoa mixture between the halves.
5. Place the bell peppers in a baking dish and sprinkle with the cheese.  Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
6. Remove foil and cook for 5 minutes more.

Such a Snoop: Quinoa Salad

I'll admit it, I totally peek into other people's shopping carts and create imaginary lives for them based on what they're purchasing.  To be fair, I do the same with my cart - looking at the contents and imagining how they portray my life.

I can't help it, food says so much about who you are! And looking in my shopping cart would have most people scratching their heads, I'm sure with our range of items from Nesquik to buckwheat soba noodles.

This morning, as I was dropping Thatbaby off at daycare and putting his lunch away my eyes we caught by one of his classmate's lunches-quinoa! We're big quinoa fans in Thathouse, but I don't think it's a typical toddler lunch. But it should be. We started using it on a more regular basis as a protein substitute when Thatbaby was refusing to eat meat and it remains a regular part or our meal plan.

Now that summer's here we move from warm quinoa casseroles to cold quinoa salads.  Quinoa salads are incredibly versatile, limited only by what you have in your fridge.  Throw in some olives, feta, and tomato and you have a Greek salad.  Walnuts and apple make for a great fall salad.  Grapefruit, watermelon, and feta make for a fantastic summer salad.  This one goes for a bit of a southwestern theme with jalapeno and avocado.

Quinoa Salad

1 cup quinoa

3 cups water

1  cucumber, peeled and diced

1 red onion, minced

2 tomatoes, diced

1 jalapeno, with seeds and ribs removed, and minced

juice of 1 lime

1 Tbsp red wine vinegar

3 Tbsp olive oil

1 avocado, sliced

1. Bring the water to a boil in a saucepan.  Add quinoa and return to a boil.  Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.  Drain and let cool.  
2. Combine the tomatoes, chiles, cilantro, vinegar, lime juice and olive oil in a bowl. 
3. Add the cucumber and onion, season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Add the quinoa and avocado, toss and adjust seasoning as necessary.

An Ode to Quinoa: Southwestern Quinoa Casserole

 On Saturday, Thatbaby and I made "Oobleck" a cornstarch and water mixture that is both a solid and a liquid.  Quinoa is food's version of Oobleck.   It's a seed that seems to be both a protein and a grain.  In a way it's really all three.

Because it's grainlike, it works as a fantastic substitute for couscous, rice, or the like, but it's a seed, so you can feel so much better about eating it.  Add the fact that it carries a hefty amount of protein makes it almost the perfect food.

We do our fair amount of quinoa eating here.  I feel like it factors into at least one lunch or dinner during the week.  I tend to make a large portion over the weekend to use for lunches or dinners.

When I saw this recipe, I knew it would be a great use for quinoa.  We don't usually do baked quinoa, but there's no reason why not to, and the rest of the ingredients are those that we're big fans of.

Southwestern Quinoa Casserole (From Muses and Meringues)

• 1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa

• 1/2 can black beans, drained and rinsed

• 1 1/2 cups frozen corn
• 1/2 red pepper, chopped

• 2 cooked chicken breasts, diced
• 1 1/2 Tbsp taco seasoning
• 2 Tbsp water
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups of shredded monterey jack
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs
• 2 tsp cold butter, cut into small pieces

1. Preheat oven to 375. Spray a baking dish with cooking spray.  Mix together all ingredients but the panko and butter in a large bowl.
2. Pour into the baking dish and sprinkle with panko.
3. Dot butter evenly over the panko and bake for 45 minutes.