I would appreciate some help, if you will. I’ve read the latest of the Eat This Not That books. They are excellent. This ones Cook This Not That and I’m getting inspried to make healthy foods at home replacing store bought crap.
I bought a red bell pepper and some cous cous. What can I do to make this a nice stuffed pepper, keep in mind I’m using the microwave. Thanks.
I’m going to be a bad person. I don’t know about stuffed red bell peppers, but I do know that there was an excellent quinoa salad in September 2010’s Cooking Light magazine. (Unfortunately, I’ve been looking on the site, and can’t find the recipe.) I think you could substitute cous cous for the quinoa just fine.
Going from memory, it’s something like this:
1/2 cup red bell pepper, diced
1 (?) cup quinoa, prepared per package directions (it might have been more than this, I can’t remember. Sorry.)
1 cup sliced peaches
1 Tbsp honey
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper, to taste
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and serve. It was really fantastic, and I’ve been meaning to make it again. When I do so, I think I’d use more red bell pepper. I’d also cut the peaches into chunks, maybe 1" to 1 1/2" or so - I think it’d combine better and bring out their flavor more.
There might be some other spice or herb in there - I’ll try to remember to look up the recipe in the copy I have and will post updates.
Aha! Found it - I did miss some stuff. But the salad is indeed awesome, and I think you’d be able to substitute the cous cous with no problem.
1 1/2 cups water
3/4 cup quinoa
1/4 cup minced red bell pepper
1/4 cup chopped green onions
3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp honey
1/4 tsp pepper
1 sliced peach (I sliced mine into bite sized pieces so it would be easier to eat)
Directions:
Bring water to boil in a medium saucepan. Add quinoa. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes. Cool quinoa slightly. Stir in remaining ingredients.
Clearly, you’d just prepare the cous cous as directed on the package, then add in the pepper, onions, lemon juice, oil, pepper, and peaches.
It’s definitely tasty and healthy. A nice mix of sweet and sour, and the texture the quinoa added was really nice.