Quinoa Stuffed Peppers with Harissa...

Ingredients I used:

• quinoa
• bell peppers
• eggplant
• zucchini
• onion
• fresh garlic
• olive oil
• harissa (recipe below)
• salt and pepper

How I put it together:

• Cooked the quinoa - There is no one way to cook quinoa and what I like to do is first rinse it in a fine mesh sieve then add to boiling water (like cooking pasta) and cook until tender. Drain into sieve and shake out excess water. One cup dry quinoa will yield about 3 cups cooked.
• Sauteed veggies for quinoa-veggie filling - I sauteed diced onion, eggplant and zucchini in olive oil with some fresh minced garlic and salt and pepper to taste. Once cooled a bit, I stirred it into the cooked quinoa with enough harissa to flavor.
• Parboiled the peppers - Bell peppers were sliced and plunked into boiling water for about 3 minutes, drained, then cooled enough to handle.
• Stuffed peppers and baked - I brushed the outside of the peppers lightly with oil then stuffed with quinoa-veggie mixture and topped with a little extra harissa. Baked at 350 F for about 15 minutes.

Harissa

Adapted from the Harissa recipe in Marie Claire Spicy, p. 368. I had it made in advance and frozen - great to have on hand.

2 medium sized roasted bell peppers, red and yellow, peeled and seeded

3 small red chile peppers, seeded if desired (vary amount to your heat tolerance)

2 large cloves of garlic

2-3 teaspoons ground, toasted cumin and coriander seeds (combined)

1 tablespoon pomegranate syrup (pomegranate juice reduced to a syrup)

squeeze of fresh lemon juice, about a tablespoon

handful of fresh cilantro

3/4 teaspoon salt

Whiz all ingredients in a food processor then mix in about 2 tablespoons olive oil. Adjust seasoning if needed.

For this meal I've used some of the harissa for stuffed peppers, but it's also fantastic mixed into a salad of roasted pumpkin, roasted peppers, quinoa and raw spinach or arugula - it's a favorite of ours and also found in Marie Claire Spicy.