Quinoa stuffed peppers make a great alternative to the Greek “yemista”. Use my recipe as a guide to create a different kind of summer feast.
As much as I adore “yemista” – that famous Greek dish of stuffed summer veggies, I’m always on the lookout for trying different things.
Or changing things in this case.
I started off having a “so-so” relationship with quinoa.
It didn’t really float my boat initially, but I’ve learnt through my many cooking experiments that quinoa needs a little “lift” to make it shine. (I’ll never forget someone describing that cooking quinoa made their kitchen smell like a “zoo”!).
🥘 Ingredients
- ⅔ cup quinoa, white
- ⅔ cup quinoa, red
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 red onion, diced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp mint, finely chopped
- ¾ cup dried cranberries, can substitute with raisins
- ½ cup raw cashews, roughly chopped (can substitute with pine nuts)
- 2 tbsp molasses, pomegranate
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 150 grams feta cheese, crumbled, can substitute with goats cheese
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch pepper
- 4 bell peppers, medium-sized, sliced in half lengthways, cleaned, deseeded and white pith removed
- 1 tbsp olive oil, for drizzling
For my dish today, I’ve used a combination of red and white quinoa.
I’ve added some parsley and mint for flavour.
There are a few cashews and dried cranberries for texture and crunch.
And I’ve also added a little cinnamon and a splash of pomegranate molasses to give it a Middle Eastern vibe.
Oh! And let’s not forget about the feta cheese. It brings it all together nicely and plus it’s Greek!
These quinoa stuffed peppers are summer on a plate.
🔪 Instructions
- Rinse the quinoa under some cold water until the water runs clear. Place the rinsed quinoa into a pot along with the chicken stock. Allow the mixture to come to a boil, bring it to a simmer and cook for approx. 15 mins until the chicken stock has been absorbed. Set aside.
- Fry the onion in the olive oil until it becomes soft and translucent for approx 5 mins. Allow to cool completely before using.
- Preheat your oven to 180 deg C. In a large bowl combine the cooked quinoa, fried onion, herbs, cranberries, cashews, molasses, cinnamon, seasoning and feta cheese.
- Lay the cut peppers on a baking tray and stuff each half with the quinoa mixture, ensuring there is a little height. Drizzle a little olive oil over the peppers and bake in for 45 mins – 1 hour, until the peppers have are tender and cooked through.
- Allow to cool slightly and serve garnished with some chopped parsley.
Again, I can’t stress enough that if you don’t have any quinoa. Play around with different grains to achieve your favourite combination. Wild rice, couscous…you get the idea.
🥗 Side dishes
I served these peppers with some barbecued pork souvlaki for a magnificent summer dinner, and they were gone in seconds.
I wish I had made more!
📖 Variations
If you enjoy cooking with quinoa I have a selection of recipes on the blog you can peruse.
- My lentil soup with chickpeas and quinoa is hearty, filling and damn delicious!
- Try these halloumi and quinoa "keftedes" or fritters for something completely vegetarian and different!
- Make these chickpea and quinoa burgers with halloumi for an exciting and different vegetarian dish
📋 Recipe
Quinoa Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup quinoa, white
- ⅔ cup quinoa, red
- 500 ml chicken stock
- 1 red onion, diced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp mint, finely chopped
- ¾ cup dried cranberries, can substitute with raisins
- ½ cup raw cashews, roughly chopped (can substitute with pine nuts)
- 2 tbsp molasses, pomegranate
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 150 g feta cheese, crumbled, can substitute with goats cheese
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch pepper
- 4 bell peppers, medium-sized, sliced in half lengthways, cleaned, deseeded and white pith removed
- 1 tbsp olive oil, for drizzling
Instructions
- Rinse the quinoa under some cold water until the water runs clear. Place the rinsed quinoa into a pot along with the chicken stock. Allow the mixture to come to a boil, bring it to a simmer and cook for approx. 15 mins until the chicken stock has been absorbed. Set aside.
- Fry the onion in the olive oil until it becomes soft and translucent for approx 5 mins. Allow to cool completely before using.
- Preheat your oven to 180 deg C. In a large bowl combine the cooked quinoa, fried onion, herbs, cranberries, cashews, molasses, cinnamon, seasoning and feta cheese.
- Lay the cut peppers on a baking tray and stuff each half with the quinoa mixture, ensuring there is a little height. Drizzle a little olive oil over the peppers and bake in for 45 mins – 1 hour, until the peppers have are tender and cooked through.
- Allow to cool slightly and serve garnished with some chopped parsley.
Notes
- You can substitute rice (arborio or long-grain works great) for the quinoa.
- Cooking time may take up to 1 hour. Check the peppers towards the end, so they don’t burn.
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