Tag: Vegetarian

Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers

Sadie2 Comments

Since I’m not always crazy about meat, when I eat out at nicer restaurants I’m always curious to try their vegetarian option.  At many restaurants it’s simply a salad, or a standard veggie burger or eggplant parmesan.  Not my favorites.  To me, the vegetarian option is a great test for a restaurant, because I think it can really show their level of creativity and willingness to showcase certain ingredients.

The more creative menus are starting to have more complex vegetarian dishes involving some more interesting components.  I think one of the downfalls that I have encountered, however is the level of complexity.  Often an unscale vegetarian option might have two or three times the number of ingredients of most of the other options on the menu.  In my opinion this level of complexity often takes away from the overall success of the dish because there are more variables that might not succeed.

That being said, there was one relatively simple vegetarian dish I tried at Salt Creek Grille  (no longer on the menu) that inspired a recipe that I not make fairly regularly.  The dish at the restaurant was quinoa stuffed bell peppers that were simply red peppers filled with quinoa mixed with peices of mango, and covered in cheese.  Even though it was pretty simple, it just worked.  It was filling, fresh, healthy, and slighlty indulgent all at the same time.

In creating my variation on this dish I decided to bring in the veggies that I like the most.  I stuck with the concept of stuffing a bell pepper with quinoa, and topping it with cheese, but I added some other simple goodies.  It’s a great side dish and very easy to stick in the fridge and grab for a snack or a quick meal.

Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers

Ingredients

  • 5 medium bell peppers (1 diced, 4 with the top sliced off and the inside cleaned)
  • Olive Oil
  • 1 medium yellow onion diced
  • 2 tsp italian seasoning
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 can diced tomatoes (15 oz)
  • 1 1/2 cups quinoa
  • 1 cup broccoli florets (fresh or frozen)
  • handful fresh spinach
  • 2 cups grated parmesan

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 and bake the 4 bell peppers with the tops cut off for about 15 minutes until they are slightly softer but not too flimsy.
  2. Heat up a large saute pan on the stove over medium heat.  Add a couple tablespoons of olive oil and saute the diced onion.  After onions begin to get translucent, turn down heat slightly and add the minced garlic, diced bell pepper, and Italian seasoning.saute time
  3. Allow to cook for about 5 more minutes, then pour in the can of diced tomatoes and a cup of water.  Return heat to medium and allow the mixture to heat up, then add the uncooked quinoa.
  4. The quinoa will take about 15 minutes to cook through.  Towards the end of this process add the broccoli and fresh spinach.  When the quinoa is cooked through stir 1 cup of grated parmesan to the mixture.
  5. Turn the oven up to 400.  Portion the filling into the 4 bell peppers and top each with the remaining cup of parmesan.  Bake in the oven about 15-20 minutes until the cheese on top is melted and golden brown.
  6. Remove from oven, allow to cool for a few minutes and enjoy!yum!

Easy Vegetarian Soup

Sadie3 Comments

A few years ago, the concept of cooking a soup at home intimidated me.  Soup recipes seemed to have so many ingredients and be such a long process.  I actually used to not be a big soup fan in general.  Then I slowly started to come around to soup and I developed a few favorites.  I love a good minestrone (Whole Foods makes a great one), a great french onion, or chicken tortilla (Panera has a good one).

Eventually, I decided that I would tackle soup for the first time.  I found a great recipe for an easier version of a chicken tortilla soup from Martha Stewart.  Easier meaning that it’s minus the chicken, so I wouldn’t have to worry about the meat component (I don’t eat much meat in general).   It has easy to find, easy to prep ingredients, and it’s a quick process.

Recently, one of my friends had minor surgery so I thought it would be a nice gesture to bring them some soup.  They are a vegetarian so I made this soup and made sure to use vegetable broth to keep it vegetarian friendly.  He said he loved it!

Vegetarian Black Bean Tortilla Soup

Yields 6-8 servings, Adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients

  • 1/2 medium onion, diced
  • 1 Tbs oil
  • 4 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 2  cans diced tomatoes (14 oz., I use no salt added)
  • 2 cans black beans (15 oz, again, low sodium)
  • 1 can vegetable broth (or chicken broth if you want)
  • 10 oz package of corn kernels
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • tortilla chips to garnish
  • lime to garnish

Method

  1. Warm up the oil in a soup pot on the stove on medium heat.  Add in diced onions and cooks about 5 minutes until translucent.  Reduce the heat slightly and add garlic and chili powder.  Make sure the garlic doesn’t burn.  Cook until fragrant.onions and garlic
  2. Add tomatoes with juice.  Add drained black beans, broth, and 1 cup of water.  Finally add corn.  Cook on medium heat to bring it up to a boil. Reduce it to a simmer and add lime and tortilla chips as desired for garish or wait until you plate the soup.all done

    Packing it up to bring to my friend
    Packing it up to bring to my friend

Simple Spaghetti Squash

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One of the best things I’ve ever ordered at a restaurant was something I had never had before: spaghetti squash.  I’m always intrigued by vegetarian dishes, and this did not disappoint.  It was a whole half of a large spaghetti squash with sun dried tomato pesto, fresh tomatoes, and pine nuts.  It comes on a bed of rice, a perfect compliment.

My mom mentioned she was attempting to make spaghetti squash for dinner and I was inspired.  I decided to replicate my favorite dish.  On the way home from school I stopped by the grocery store to pick up a spaghetti squash, a little jar of sun dried tomato pesto, and cherry tomatoes.

I didn’t use a recipe, I just consulted a couple recipes on the Food Network website to figure out a good method.  And I decided to nix the pine nuts (I forgot to buy them), and rather than fresh tomatoes I wanted to roast the cherry tomatoes to add to the mix.  I wasn’t in the mood to make rice, so I kept it simple.

Here’s what I did:

1. Preheated my oven to 450.

2. Sliced the squash in half length wise, scooped out the seeds and innards, added salt and pepper on each half, and put them cut side down on a foil lined baking sheet.  Roasted the Squash for 40 minutes.

3. Sliced a handful of cherry tomatoes in half and spread them on another baking sheet with a drizzle of olive oil, plus salt and pepper.  I put them in the oven about 15 minutes after the squash went in.

Roasted Tomatoes

4.   I removed the tomatoes and the squash from the oven.  Then I flipped the squash over and used a fork to fluff up the “spaghetti” on the inside.

5.  I added a heaping tablespoon of the pesto to each half as well as the cherry tomatoes, then gave it a mix and let the pesto melt in a little.  Salt and pepper to taste, and Voila!

I’m still perfecting my technique because I think I left it in the oven a couple minutes too long, and yet it was still delicious.  It’s not winning any beauty contests, but it was quick, easy, and tasty, give it a try!