Stuffed Peppers Gone Wrong

So, I like to play with my food and experiment in the kitchen, but not all my efforts meet with success.  I'm not too proud to admit that there have been quite a few times that I thought to myself, "Why did I do that?" after finally eating the finished product.  In fact, this just happened the other night.

My family loves stuffed peppers and I normally make them with ground turkey and rice.  It's a pretty standard recipe that many are familiar with, but I decided to try something new in it.  Instead of using rice, I thought that quinoa would be a good substitute.  I love quinoa and I use it in so many things, so I thought I couldn't go wrong.  Well, let me tell you, stick with the rice.

The peppers with quinoa weren't horrible, they had a good flavor, but the texture wasn't right and without the rice they were not substantial enough for a meal.  Both my husband and I left the table still hungry when normally we would be full.

So, now I know to keep the rice in the stuffed peppers and use the quinoa more in side dishes.  Lesson learned.

Turkey was cooked with tomato paste.

Quinoa was cooked.

Cooked quinoa was added to meat with additional seasoning.

Peppers were washed.

Then cut and prepared for stuffing mixture.

Stuffed peppers were placed in crock pot with 2 cups of water.

Peppers cooked for several hours.

Ground Turkey, Quinoa, and Broccoli Goodness

I was kind of in a pinch.  I needed to make dinner and pretty much only had ground turkey in the freezer.  I needed to make something that my husband, myself, and my 15 month old daughter would all eat.  Since I know that my husband likes to have well balanced meals that consist of a lean protein, carbohydrate and a vegetable I had to figure out what carb and veggie I would pair with the ground turkey. I was also feeling a bit lazy and wanted to make something pretty easy.  We had fresh broccoli in the frig, which my daughter LOVES, and we had brown rice, quinoa, and pasta in the pantry.  I am a huge fan of ground meat and rice, but didn't feel like rice because I was feeling lazy and didn't want to deal with the rice maker.  Pasta seemed an odd pairing since I wasn't planning on making even a light sauce, so quinoa it was.  From this was birthed my ground turkey, quinoa and broccoli goodness that has since become a family favorite.  You should see how much of this my daughter can and does eat!

It's very simple to make.

You'll need ground turkey, quinoa, fresh broccoli and the seasonings of your choice.

First, you need to start your water boiling for your quinoa and then you'll just follow the directions on the package to cook it.  You'll also want to start cooking your broccoli.  I have used both steamed broccoli and roasted broccoil in this dish.  I personally prefer the steamed broccoli, but my husband says like likes the roasted broccoli better.  It's just a matter of preference.

While the quinoa is getting started, you'll want to brown your ground turkey.  This is where it gets fun because you can get as creative as you like with the seasonings.  I always do some black pepper, but from there you can do just about anything.  I have used chili powder and garlic together.  I have used garlic and parsley.  I have also simply used a package of onion soup mix.  Taco seasoning is great too. You'll want to season to your liking.  We like bold flavors, so I'm a little heavy handed in adding the spices.

Once the turkey is cooked thoroughly and the quinoa and broccoli are cooked all you have to do is combine all the ingredients.  To make it easier and to have less clean up, I cook the turkey in a large dutch oven and then when I combine all the cooked ingredients I do the combining in the same dutch oven.

Voila!  You have a healthy dinner that consists of a lean protein, carbohydrate and vegetable that the whole family can enjoy!

This is so easy and so yummy that it has pretty much become a weekly staple in our home.  I hope your family enjoys it too.