Stuffed Red Peppers

We still have the builders and painters here, banging, sawing, clanging away all day and the dust and mess just goes everywhere! I keep reminding myself it will all be worth it in the end. At the moment we are 'glamping' in the spare room, and luckily the kitchen is still fully functional.
Earlier on (once the builders had gone for the day) we liked to retreat into our (partly built) extension to relax and gaze out the new window (and of course the new view - am I getting old?).
Recently most of our lights were not working (turned out it was just a fuse, mmmmmm) and due to the disgusting weather outside things got a little dark inside a bit earlier than usual. I made some space amongst the builders tools and lit my Christmas present candle, perfect - it set off the quiet atmosphere beautifully while we enjoyed a wine and ate a dinner of Stuffed Red Peppers.Yum!
Red peppers are in season right now and therefore quite inexpensive, a good time to use them in your cooking. I really like them, especially baked and added to roast vegetable salads - so sweet and delicious.
This recipe was given to me by my cooking buddy, Elaine. She shares my enthusiasm for trying new recipes and swapping the ones that have worked well for us. Over the years we have spent many an hour together sharing and enjoying the fruit of our labours, with the odd glass of wine of course. We both love vegetarian food and this recipe is really filling as a main dish or a nice starter for a meat eaters dinner party, looks very fancy too!
Many dishes of this type use rice but this one is different - it uses Quinoa. I have mentioned this grain on my blog before. I am a great fan - as a grain it has highest protein content, is easy to cook and makes a nice change from rice or pasta. It is a little more expensive but well worth the investment. Wonderful with beetroot (see my June post - Quinoa & Beetroot Salad).
I have since played around a bit with this recipe. You can be as creative as you like as long as the flavour of the filling goes well with the red peppers. Today I saute`d diced eggplant and courgettes, threw in a can of Mexican Tomatoes, quick and so easy and was just as nice.  (I noted this week there is a new cookbook on the market called 'Cooking with Quinoa', might be worth a look).
I hope you enjoy this recipe,  thank you Elaine

Looks like a heart, must be good for you?

Stuffed Red Peppers  -  serves 4

4 red peppers cut in ½, remove seeds.

Spray with oil ( Dots Kitchen or olive oil)

Season with salt, pepper and a little Tuscan seasoning or anything similar (I used some Moroccan spice mix).

Put cut side up and roast about 10mins at 200°C

Cook ¾ cup quinoa

 Chop/dice 3 cups vegetables.  You can use red onions, courgettes, tomato and mushrooms - I used eggplant too. If you have more than 3 cups it doesn’t matter - the left over filling is great for a light lunch!

1 clove garlic - crushed

¼ cup flaked almonds

75gms feta, crumbled

Chopped parsley

Salt and Pepper and more Tuscan seasoning

Panfry the vegetables and garlic

Mix the rest of ingredients together with the cooked vegetables.

Stuff the peppers and reheat in a moderate oven for about 5 - 10 minutes until heated through

Serve with a green salad