Southwest Quinoa Bake

My husband and I have be come devout fans of quinoa. This grain is so incredibly good for you but the unique texture add a little pizazz to all sorts of dishes. I also really like how it takes on the flavor you give it. Its a neat mixture, to me, between a rice and pasta. This dish also incorporates are favorite things all in one :) I found this online somewhere and of course altered it ... I can never leave a recipe the way I find it.

Ingredients:

1/2 c Quinoa
3/4 c Chicken Broth
1/2 an Onion
1 Jalapeño
Minced 2 tbsp Garlic
2 Bell peppers (I like to use a little of all 3 colors, its prettier)
2 c cooked Black beans
1/2 lb Ground turkey or diced chicken
1 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Cayenne
1 tsp Chili Powder
1/2 c Cheese (your choice)

 

Step 1: 

Dice up your onion, jalapeño and garlic then toss it in a LARGE pan and set to med heat

Step 2:

Dice all your bell peppers, apx 1/2 cup of each color (red, yellow & green) and put them into a small dry pan on medium heat. 

Step 3:

Rinse your quinoa and put into a small pot with chicken broth. Set stove to medium heat, cover and let simmer about 10 minutes

Step 4: 

Pay attention to bell peppers as they roast in a dry pan. Flip occasionally, so they brown  evenly. Once its done (apx 15 mins total time) put into a bowl on the side.

Step 5:

Now that everything is on the stove and in progress add the ground turkey or chicken, black beans and 1/2 of dry spices to the large pan with your onion, jalapeno and garlic.

* you can make it vegetarian style too and its still delicious!!

Step 6:

When the bell peppers are done roasting set them aside in a bowl. In the same pan add your cooked quinoa and 1/2 of dry spices spices. This will toast the quinoa, cook for approximately 5 minutes or until lightly browned.

Step 7:

Layer away in an 8x8 pan!
Meat mixture frist followed by, quinoa, roasted peppers and cheese! You can pick whatever cheese suits you, but I use pepper jack.

Bake at 350 until cheese is melted and dish is hot. Apx 10 minutes. 

Lastly, slice and devour!

Turkey Chili

 

This recipient evolved from my Mommys amazing chili! I just make it with ground turkey instead of beef and I added a couple more spices and beans to it! This is absolutely one of my favorite... Well I have a lot of favorites but, this is one of my favorite recipes!

 

Ingredients:

1 lb Ground Turkey
1 tsp Basil
1 tsp Oregano
1 tsp Paprika
1 tsp Cayenne
2 tsp Cumin
1 tbsp Garlic
1 8 oz can tomato sauce or 4oz tomato paste and 4oz water
1 c diced tomatoes
1 c Salsa (tomato bell pepper based)
2 c (1-16oz can) Kidney Beans
2 c  (1-16oz can) Garbanzo Beans

On medium heat Brown your turkey and all the spices. 

Once the turkey is cooked add your tomatoes, tomato sauce, salsa and beans. Let it simmer until liquid is thick. 

** If using drive beans make sure you soak 1 cup of each type of dry beans overnight. This will give you 2 cups of each and will be ready too cook.

Or you can use 1 16 ounce can of each type. 

Serve over rice or eat it by itself!! Yummy!! 

Enjoy!

Quinoa Turkey Stuffed Bell Pepper

So I'm preparing for a competition but I know my husband doesn't want to eat boring meals every night so I took a wonderful stuffed bell pepper recipe by Emeril Lagasse that I've used for many years and altered it. I had to make it competition meal friendly with lots of nutrients and low fat so here it is! Nothing like what I used to make but still very delicious!

Ingredients:

1 c Onion
1/2 c Red Bell Peppers
1 TBSP Garlic
1 TBSP Parsley
1/2 tsp Coriander
1/2 tsp Cumin
1/2 tsp Pepper
1/2 tsp Basil
Pinch Red Pepper flakes
1 lb ground Turkey
3-6 green Bell Peppers

Finely dice your onion and bell pepper and place in a hot skillet with olive oil and garlic.  Cook until onions are translucent.

Next add one pound of ground turkey and spices. 

In another pot on the stove to cook your quinoa and chicken broth until the King what is a little translucent on the edges.

Once its done add to quinoa and tomato paste to your turkey vegetable mixture.

Cover and let it simmer.

Pull out another large pot, fill it with water and set it to high while the water is heating remove the tops and seeds of your green bell peppers.

Place bell peppers in boiling water for approximately 5 minutes or until slightly soft.
Fill peppers with quinoa turkey mixture and top with any type of cheese that you enjoy in this case I used provolone.

Bake for approximately 15 minutes at 350 F or until the cheese is melted.

This recipe will easily fill 6 green bell peppers but I only filled 3 the filling is great for leftovers if you don't have 6 people to feed.

 

ENJOY!

 

Turkey Meatloaf

I don't know if there's such a thing as any human being meatloaf hater!? If so, O well they lose out, but I absolutely LOVE meatloaf! It's quick it's easy, juicy and so tasty! 

I grew up eating a lot of meatloaf but of course it was ground beef full of ketchup, onion soup mix, and other sorts of flavor-full unhealthy stuff mixed in. I'm not gonna lie I love my Granny's traditional meatloaf but when you need something that's competition friendly, you get creative. This loaf, I'm proud to say is made of lean ground turkey with no sugar or unhealthy stuff inside! And I can assure you that it's a very tasty!

Ingredients:

1 lb Lean Ground Turkey
1 TBSP ground Oatmeal
1 TBSP ground Flax
1/4 C Shredded Parmesan Cheese
     (if you don't have any its still very good without it)
2 Egg Whites
1TSP Parsley
1TSP Basil
1TSP Cumin
1TSP Oregano
1TSP Paprika
1TSP Minced Garlic

Mix all ingredients very well  and form in a loaf pan. Make sure the loaf does not touch the sides of the pan, this allows the fat to run off.

if you want meatballs form in 1 TBSP sizes and bake on a cookie sheet for 30 mins or until fat runs out!

Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 mins to 1 hour. Do NOT over cook! you will end up with a dry loaf! YUCK!

When it is finished let the loaf set for about 10 minutes then slice and serve! Add your favorite vegetables and quinoa or brown rice as a side! YUM YUM YUM!!! I put some Dijon mustard on it, YUM or sugar-free ketchup! double YUM! 

Its So simple, even the directions seem too simple... hahaha!

ENJOY!