Stuffed peppers are one of those dishes that is surprisingly easy to make but looks so exquisite and classy when it’s done. I was inspired by the beautiful red peppers at farmers market. They were huge and, being organic, had just the right amount of imperfection to add to their natural beauty.

This recipe calls for a bit of gorgonzola, which gives the peppers a noticeable bite. I have in the past however switched out for other cheeses that can maintain their taste even in a complex dish, like feta or chevre.

I served my stuffed peppers with a side of cooked sweet potato, mashed with a bit of garlic and olive oil; the color contrast on the plate was beautiful. It’s always fun to play with what you put on the plate; it’s like having a canvas and palette of paints in front of you.

Recipe:

• 1 cup quinoa (1/2 red, 1/2 white)
• 3 large peppers (or 4 medium)
• 1/2 cup lentils
• 1/2 large leek
• 6 mushrooms, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 3 tablespoons fresh basil (or 1 tablespoon dry)
• 1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts, finely chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 3 tablespoons gorgonzola (or more if you want a stronger taste)

1. Cook quinoa and lentils separately and set aside
2. Rinse peppers and slice off top — about a 1/2 inch down — in order to make a sort of hat that can sit on top of the pepper. Clean out the inside to get rid of any seeds.
3. Saute mushrooms, garlic and basil
4. Mix saute with quinoa and lentils
5. Add hazelnuts and gorgonzola
6. Stuff peppers with mixture and place in pan. Make sure that the peppers are standing upright; if the peppers don’t stand by themselves, squeeze them into a smaller pan.
7. Bake at 375 for 35-45 minutes.

Bon appetit!

Since October 1st is the official World Vegetarian Day, even if you’re a meat-eater, consider giving it up for today. Studies show that cutting meat out of your diet can help cut greenhouse gas emissions.

My tips for quinoa — and 100% vegetarian — recipes to make today:

Salade de Quinoa Rouge via Chocolate and Zucchini

Warm and Nutty Cinnamon Quinoa via 101 Cookbooks

Quinoa Vegetable Paella via Fat Free Vegan Kitchen

Any other suggestions?

Now that I have this blog it’s time to get creative! Last Sunday B — the man who is happy to support my quinoa obsession — and I decided that meant quinoa burgers. It took a bit of web surfing, but after deciding that I didn’t want the vegan recipe, and I wanted to keep the burgers gluten free (had to switch out the standard bread crumbs), I decided on my own version of the recipe and went for it.

Although I am calling them burgers, they’re felt more like falafel while I was making them. I made them rather small, but if you want to go for the all out burger feel, you can make the patties bigger. The end product was dense and delicious; certainly packed full of protein thanks to the quinoa/bean combination.

To make the meal even more decadent, we topped the burgers off with homemade guacamole

Burgers:

• 1 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1/2 baked yam
• 1 finely grated carrot
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1/2 can organic black beans
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup buckwheat flour
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 of a white onion (I used a Walla Walla)
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon chipotle powder
• a sprinkling of red pepper flakes (add more if you like things spicy!)
• oil for frying

1. cook quinoa
2. mix quinoa with baked yam, carrots, cilantro, salt, chipotle powder and chili flakes
3. sautee garlic and onions. add black beans and cumin powder mix everything together
4. add egg and buckwheat flour to the mix
5. make small balls and flatten into patties. to make the burgers you can either fry them in the frying pan with oil (I used olive) or bake them in the oven.

Guacamole:

• 2 mashed avocados
• 1 finely chopped tomato
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• juice of 1/2 lime
• salt and pepper to taste
• chopped cilantro

throw it all in a bowl and top off the burgers!

Bon appetit!