Last year, my “Fake-Out Shrimp Fried Rice” landed me a spot on the Dr Oz show. I made a fake fried rice dish using quinoa and shrimp along with lots of veggies. Since then I have incorporated quinoa into lots of our dinners.
Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) is a great ingredient to have in your diet. Technically it is considered a seed rather than a grain. It has lots of fiber, folate and magnesium along with other nutrients. It is easy to cook in advance and keep in your refrigerator. You can buy it already cooked in the frozen food department too. Just reheat it in your microwave and it’s ready to use.
Eating quinoa by itself is pretty plain and boring. It doesn’t have a ton of flavor and needs to be spiced up. I like to add it to things and putting it in poblano peppers is my new favorite way. This dish was a meal in itself. The night we ate it, I even skipped making a salad.
What’s your favorite way to eat quinoa?
- 4 medium size poblano peppers, seeded and split in half (long way)
- 2 TBS olive oil
- ½ cup chopped onions
- 2 cloves chopped garlic
- 10 oz can diced tomatoes (I used Red Gold with chiles)
- 2 cups cooked quinoa
- 2 cups cooked chicken
- 1½ cups low fat cheddar cheese, divided
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro plus extra for garnish
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 avocado, mashed
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 tsp chili powder
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Fill a large deep dish baking pan with half an inch of water. Lay the pepper halves in the pan and set aside.
- In a large frying pan, heat oil on medium and saute onions and garlic for 5 minutes or until they start to brown. Add tomatoes and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add quinoa and chicken to the pan, Stir well and cook until bubbly.
- Add 1 cup of the cheese (reserve ½ cup), cilantro, salt and pepper to taste. Mix well and remove from heat.
- Stuff the pepper halves with the chicken mixture. Sprinkle with remaining ½ cup cheese.
- Cover pan with foil and bake for 45 minutes or until peppers are tender. Uncover the foil for the last 5 minutes of baking.
- While peppers are baking, mix together avocado, sour cream and chili powder.
- Serve the cooked peppers with the avocado cream and garnish with extra cilantro if desired.
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh man – I am seeing avocado cream just about everywhere!
I love poblano peppers. Awesome recipe.
That looks interesting. We’ve been trying to find more quinoa recipes. This looks like a good one to give it a try.
These sound amazing–and how did I miss that you were on Dr. Oz???
Wow, these look really yummy. I love quinoa and need more recipes that incorporate it.
how cool that you were on doc oz! this looks wonderful, i really need to make stuffed peppers more, they’re so delicious!
My idea of the perfect meal… they look amazing.
I’ve been searching for ways to try quinoa and this looks like one my family will enjoy!
These sound absolutely amazing. I’ve actually never tried Quinoa before, but the more I keep hearing about it, I think I need to change that.
Lisa, these look great! I’ve been trying to get a little more quinoa in our diet around here.
These look amazing! I am always looking for ways to incorporate quinoa into our meals. This recipe is a must-try!
These look so good. How in the heck did I miss you on Dr. Oz?
that cream sauce!
I could drink that!
We love quinoa and like you I enjoy adding it to dishes instead of rice. This looks pretty tasty! I can’t pass up a gorgeous, stuffed poblano. One of my favorite flavors.
Hi there. The current Food on Friday on Carole’s Chatter is collecting links to posts about Mexican dishes and flavours. I do hope you link this one in. This is the link . Please do pop back to check out some of the other links – there are a lot of good ones already. Have a great week.
Lisa, thanks for joining the link up for Food on Friday on Carole’s Chatter. I hope you enjoyed looking at some of the other links. I have been reading them all and must say my Mexican cravings are now almost out of control! Cheers
Ps I am signing up to follow your blog. A follow back would be great – or maybe you have already?
Trying this tonight! Can’t wait. I have made an avocado cream with other Mexican dishes, and subbing the sour cream for plain yogurt is a lighter alternative that is just as tasty!