Quinoa Stuffed Poblano Peppers

Recently we have begun to discover the wonders of quinoa, and have enjoyed making all sorts of simple, savory dishes with this super-healthy grain.  Any dish made with quinoa is bound to be hearty and filling; a deceptively small amount will keep your appetite sated and your tastebuds happy.

So when the missus discovered a recipe on one of our favorite blogs, Cooking With Amy, we figured we like quinoa, we like peppers, and we definitely like mushrooms, so why not give this a shot?  The great thing about this dish is how easy it is to make; very little preparation in needed beyond chopping a few veggies and rinsing the quinoa.

For those uninitiated into the realm of quinoa, first thing to note is that it has to be rinsed, thoroughly.  Second, quinoa absorbs an astounding amount of water, so figure on your water to grain ratio being somewhere around 2:1.  As part of an entree for 2 people, 1/2 cup of quinoa is just about right to make your tummy full and happy.  However, there is nothing wrong with making more and having some left over for lunch the next day.

But lets move on to the recipe at hand, shall we?

Quinoa Stuffed Poblano Peppers

Ingredients:

2 Poblano peppers, cut in half, seeds removed

1 cup of water

1/2 cup of red or white quinoa

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 cup mushrooms, chopped

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic

2 cups swiss chard leaves, shredded

1/4 cup pistachios, chopped

1 1/2 cups canned crushed tomatoes, liquid included

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Combine water and quinoa in a saucepan, bring to a boil then reduce heat to low.  Cover; cook for 15 to 18 minutes until water is completely absorbed.  Remove from heat.

In a large skillet over medium high heat, add your olive oil.  Saute onions, mushroom, and garlic for about 8 minutes, until onion is tender.  Add the chard and allow to wilt, it will reduce in volume by more than half.  Add the cooked quinoa and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Once combined, spoon the mixture into the pepper halves.

In a casserole dish large enough to hold the peppers, (an 8 x 8 should do) pour in the canned tomatoes and liquid.  Nestle the peppers into the sauce and top each with a few pinches of chopped pistachio.  Bake for about 30 minutes, until the peppers are tender.

This is a hearty, warm, and simple dish great for a weeknight.  We ate it as our main course, but the peppers could easily be served as a side dish as well.  The one change I would make next time around would be to roast the peppers first and remove the skin; once they had baked the skin was tough and a little bitter, roasting them first would have brought out the sweetness of the peppers.  We used fairly small peppers, which made stuffing a little bit difficult; if you can, find fat peppers that will give you plenty of room to stuff all the goodies inside.

Thanks to fellow San Francisco foodie Amy Sherman for the great recipe.  I hope you all will give this a try and don't be afraid to add your own spin on it.  That's what cooking is all about.  Enjoy!

Udon Miso Soup

The great thing about soup is that you can make it with just about whatever you have ready to go in your kitchen. It can be a simple light broth with veggies, or a thick and rich stew of meat, beans and noodles. I've never really tried anything with miso before, but recently a cold San Francisco night was calling for a good soup. The miso soup I have had before, primarily in restaurants, has been little else but broth and tiny cubes of tofu. Since this was going to be the main course instead of just a starter, I figured it was going to need a little substance.

I adapted yet another recipe from Heidi at 101 Cookbooks for this soup, and while I added generous amounts of vegetables for this batch, it is really easily adaptable for whatever suits your tastes. I heartily recommend adding a small amount of miso and tasting the broth at first, you can always add more if it isn't flavorful enough. Miso can be pretty salty, so you probably don't need to add salt to anything. I used the fresh udon noodles that I found in the refrigerated section at the store, next to the tofu. Dried noodles should serve just as well.

Udon Miso Soup

Ingredients:
1 package of fresh udon noodles
2 - 4 tablespoons miso paste (to taste)
3 - 5 ounces of extra firm tofu, sliced into tiny 1/2 inch cubes
4 cups vegetable stock
2 cups of water
3 celery stalks, sliced into 1/4 inch chunks
1 package of fresh shitake mushrooms or other variety, sliced thin
4 - 5 radishes, sliced very thin
Small handful of fresh cilantro
A pinch of red pepper flakes (for heat)

Boil the noodles in salted water until cooked and just tender, drain, rinse and set aside. Bring 4 cups of vegetable broth to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Mix a few tablespoons of the broth into a small bowl with the miso paste and whisk so it thins out the miso. Pour mix back into the pot. At this point, taste the broth to see if it needs more miso. Add the water. You may choose to add a little water at a time, tasting the broth as you go. 2 cups ended up being just the right amount of extra liquid needed for the amount of vegetables and noodles. This will vary on what you add to your soup.

Sprinkle in red pepper flakes. Add mushrooms, celery, and radishes, and allow to simmer for a few minutes. Add the tofu, and allow the soup to return to a simmer. Remove the soup from the heat and add the udon noodles. Serve topped with fresh cilantro. I can't eat soup without something crunchy, so I toasted slices of a baguette to serve along side.

If all goes as planned, this should serve 4.

Enjoy!