quinoa with roasted garlic tomatoes and spinach

find it here from cooking light august 2010

quinoa stuffed peppers

From Whole Foods Market Cookbook
INGREDIENTS
2 cups water or vegetable stock
1 cup quinoa, well rinsed and drained

2 large red peppers and 2 large green peppers, halved and seeded
vegetable or olive oil for spraying peppers and casserole dish
salt to taste
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (I didnt have this, so I used chili powder)

The Stuffing
2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 medium onion finely diced
1 carrot finely diced
2 stalks celery finely diced
1/2 cup shelled pumpkin seeds (couldnt find these, so I used shelled sunflower seeds)
2 cloves garlic minced (I used 4!)
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/8 cup finely chopped fresh oregano (didnt have, so I used 2 tsp dried)
1/8 cup finely chopped fresh basil (didnt have, so I used 2 tsp dried)
salt to taste

veg oil for spraying the casserole dish
1/2 cup water or vegetable stock
finely shredded cheese

In a rice cooker combine the 2 cups water and 1 cup quinoa and let it cook OR in a sauce pan bring 2 cups water to a boil, add the quinoa and summer on low heat with the saucepan covered. Cooke the quinoa until the liquid has evaporated and the quinoa is very tender, about 30 minutes. Set the quinoa aside (it can be cooked up to 2 days before the peppers are stuffed)
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Spray the pepper halves with oil and season the inside with salt and cayenne pepper. Place peppers in casserole dish and bake for 15 minutes, until softened a little.
TO PREPARE THE STUFFING- Heat the olive oil i na pan and saute the onion, carrot, celery, pumpkin seeds, garlic, cumin and chili powder for 3-4 minutes, until the veggies begin to soften and become lightly browned. Add the cooked quinoa, oregano and basil to the veggies, and sontinue to saute for 1 more minute, until all the ingredients are blended well. Salt to taste.
Fill each pepper half with even amounts of the quinoa filling and top with the shredded cheese, and place them in a lightly oiled, ovenproof casserole dish. Add the 1/2 cup water to the pan. cover the dish with foil, and bake the stuffed peppers for 20-25 minutes until the peppers are tender.

*I used 3 yellow peppers and had A LOT of stuffing left over
*I felt this was a bit on the bland side and definitely needed the salt to taste
*I cooked the quinoa in water...it may have been more flavorful if cooked in the stock as suggested
*The directions also gave an option of baking the stuffed peppers in 2 cups of favorite marinara sauce....didnt try that.