Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) is hailed as a super grain. It was called “the mother grain” by the Incas, who cultivated it for hundreds of years, high in the Andes, solely for their own use. Today, quinoa is widely available. The tiny, bead-shaped grains have a mild, delicate, slightly nutty flavour. It is cooked in the same way as rice, but the grains quadruple in size, becoming translucent with an unusual white outer ring.

Before cooking, the seeds must be rinsed well to remove their bitter resin-like coating, which is called saponin. The presence of saponin is obvious by the production of soapy looking suds when the seeds are swished in water. Placing quinoa in a strainer and rinsing thoroughly with water easily washes the saponin from the seeds.

Quinoa’s super grain status comes from it’s nutritional value. Unlike other grains, quinoa is a complete protein because it contains all eight essential amino acids. It is an excellent source of calcium, potassium and zinc as well as iron, magnesium, and B vitamins. Quinoa is gluten-free and contains more calcium than milk!

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients:

6 red, orange or green bell peppers
1 lb ground bison
1 tbsp gluten-free worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp gluten-free tamari
1/2 tsp corn or tapioca starch
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2 tbsp World Food’s Sweet Tamarind Sauce or tomato puree
sprinkle of nutritional yeast (optional, we forgot to add it this time)

1/2 cup quinoa, cooked

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350.

Brown the bison over medium heat. Drain if necessary.
Remove pan from the heat and add remaining ingredients.
Add cooked quinoa and stir until well combined.

Cut the tops off the bell peppers and stuff with the prepared mixture.
Place peppers in a baking dish and cook uncovered for 1 hour.
For the last 5 minutes you can turn your oven to broil to brown the tops, careful not to burn!

Serves 6 or provides leftovers for lunch!

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Blog & Recipes by Crystal Di Domizio RHN