Turkey & Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

Yield: 6 servings

What You'll Need:
For the meat mixture:
1lb ground lean chicken or turkey breast
2 green onion, chopped
1/2 roma tomato, chopped
1/8 green bell pepper, chopped
1/4 c. white onion, chopped
3/4 c. white mushrooms, chopped
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp garlic powder (slightly heaping)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cumin seed
1/2 tsp Shaan Tikka Boti spice mix* (optional)
1/2 tsp lemon pepper
1 Tbs. tomato paste

For the quinoa mixture:
3/4 c. quinoa
1 1/2 c. water
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 c. black beans
1/2 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp fresh lime juice

3 whole red or green bell peppers

What To Do:
Preheat oven to 350º

1) For the chicken mixture:
In a shallow pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Saute garlic powder in the oil heat, until it begins to turn slightly golden in color. Add in thawed ground meat; stir in remaining spices (i.e. red pepper, salt, cumin seeds, Shaan and lemon pepper). Reduce heat to medium and cook until meat begins to brown (about 4-5 minutes). Stir in all chopped vegetables (tomato, bell pepper, green onion, mushrooms and onion). Cook meat for about 13 minutes, until almost cooked through; stir in tomato paste and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.


2) For the quinoa mixture:
In a shallow pan or frying pan, bring 1 1/2 c. water and 1/8 tsp salt to a boil. Add quinoa, cover pan and reduce heat so that the water simmers (med/med-low heat). Cook for about 20 minutes, or until water is evaporated and the quinoa is cooked through and sprouted. Once the quinoa is cooked, mix in black beans, olive oil and lemon juice.

3) Fold quinoa mixture into the ground meat mixture and set aside.

4) Remove stems and seeds from whole bell peppers and slice lengthwise. Wrap each bell pepper in a separate piece of foil and place in a baking dish. Bake for 15 minutes.

  

Remove from oven and remove each bell pepper from foil wrapper.  Arrange bell pepper halves in the baking dish and fill each bell pepper half with 1/2 c. of the meat/quinoa mixture; pack it in with your hand, if needed.

 

Once bell peppers are stuffed, cover baking dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes, or until bell peppers are tender. Serve with tomato-less corn salsa (I got mine from Trader Joe's) and a light sprinkle of shredded low-fat mozzarella!

Cholay II (Spiced Chickpeas)

What You'll Need:

1 lb Dried chickpeas
3 tsp Cumin powder (slightly heaping)
1/4 tsp Black pepper
1/8 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Ginger powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Salt (for water to cook chickpeas)
1/2 tsp Black salt
1/2 tsp red pepper (or less for mild heat)
1/2 Green bell pepper, chopped
1/4 Medium sized white onion, chopped
4 Roma tomatoes, diced
3/4 c. Cilantro, chopped
1 Tbs Lemon juice
3/4 c. Imlee (Tamarind Chutney)

What to do:

Cook dried chickpeas (without pre-soaking) in pressure cooker with 8 cups water and 1/4 tsp salt. Pressure cook (med-high pressure) for 45 mins; remove from heat and allow pressure cooker to cook and release pressure on its own. Once pressure has been released, drain chickpeas and rinse with cool water; place in large bowl.

Mix in all spices, vegetables and imlee. Garnish with fresh cilantro; serve chilled or warm.

 

Tips:
* If you don't have a pressure cooker, you can follow the directions on the package to cook the beans
*Imlee can be found at most Indian grocery stores; I'll be posting a recipe soon!

Spicy Tempeh Salad

Yield: 3 servings 

What You'll Need:

1 package Home style Tempeh - spicy veggie (I got mine from Whole Foods)

1 (8 oz) canned corn

1 c. green leaf lettuce, chopped

1/4 c. red cabbage, chopped

1/4 c. crushed olives (about half of a 4 oz can)

2 Tbs diced red onion

2 Tbs diced green onion

2 Tbs diced red bell pepper

2 Tbs minced cilantro

1 tsp low sodium soy sauce 

2 tsp olive oil

1 tsp rice vinegar (optional)

Sweet and spicy spring roll dipping sauce (made with red chillies, garlic, vinegar, etc; can be found in Asian section of grocery store)

Shredded soy cheese (to sprinkle on top)

What To Do:

Cut tempeh into 1/2" cubes; saute over med-high heat with olive oil, rice vinegar and soy sauce in a frying pan for about 4-5 minutes, or until golden brown.  Once tempeh is cooked, remove from heat.  Meanwhile, in a medium sized bowl, combine corn, lettuce, cabbage, olives, red onion, green onion, bell pepper and cilantro; mix well.  Add in cooked tempeh and toss.  Before eating, drizzle sweet and spicy dipping sauce over salad as a dressing and sprinkle with a little bit of soy cheese. 

Tips:

*If you prefer, you can also grate or crumble the tempeh instead of cutting in to cubes

*To give the tempeh a slightly smoked flavor, try adding 1/4 tsp liquid smoke

*Try adding 1/2c cooked quinoa (boiled in 1c. veggie broth for about 15-20 mins) for added flavor and protein 

*You can mix the dressing into the salad before serving-- you will need about 3 1/2 Tbs, or to taste of dressing for the entire salad.

*This is a spicy salad! If you don't like food with too much heat, try regular flavored tempeh instead of spicy

Nutrition facts are an estimation of
1 serving; based off of an on-line tool 

Cholay I - Curried Chickpeas

What You'll Need:
2 cans garbanzo beans
1 small can tomato sauce
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes, with juice
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1 c. yellow onion, diced
1 c. water
1/4c cilantro, minced
1 medium sized golden potato, cubed (about 1/2" cubes)
1 Tbs coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Garam Masala  (Indian spice, found in spice or ethnic section)
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp ginger powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 pinch cinnamon
fresh cilantro, for garnish

What To Do:

In a saucepan, heat drained garbanzo beans in water over high heat (until heated through); remove from heat, drain and set aside.  Meanwhile, in a large frying pan or large shallow saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat; saute garlic and ginger powders until lightly golden.  Add a 2-3 tablespoons of water and add in remaining spices: coriander, cumin, salt, turmeric, cayenne, cinnamon and Garam Masala. Saute for about 1/2 - 1 minute, until spices well blended. Add diced onion and entire contents of diced tomatoes can; stir until spices are mixed in well.  Increase heat to medium/high and add cubed potatoes and 1 c. water; simmer mixture (med-fast simmer), uncovered, for about 8-10 minutes.  Add diced bell pepper, heated garbanzo beans and tomato sauce. Stir occasionally and continue to cook on medium heat for an additional 15 minutes, or until excess liquid is evaporated and a thick sauce forms. Garnish with fresh cilantro.

     

Tips:
* If you don't have tomato sauce on hand, you can use 1/8 tomato paste instead
*Instead of canned diced tomatoes you can also use 4-5 fresh roma tomatoes
*To check if potatoes are cooked through, pierce with fork-- if the fork goes in easily, they are done

Roasted Quinoa Salad with Balsamic Dressing

What You'll Need:

1 c. quinoa, rinsed

2 c. low-sodium vegetable broth (msg-free is always good too)

1/4 c. red bell pepper, diced (approximately 1/2 of a medium sized pepper)

1/4 c. celery, diced (approximately 1/2 of a stalk)

1/4 c. red onion, diced (approximately 1/4 of a small onion)

1/4 c. black beans

1 1/2 Tbs. cilantro, minced

1 Tbs. green onion, chopped

1 Tbs. crushed black olives

2 large cloves of garlic, minced (approximately 1 Tbs)

1/8 c balsamic vinegar

2 tsp olive oil

dash of coriander powder

dash of cumin powder

What To Do:

In a dry frying pan, roast the rinsed quinoa over high heat (stirring frequently) for 3-4 minutes.  Add in the 2 cups of vegetable broth and bring to a boil.  Once the quinoa boils, reduce the heat and simmer (medium) for approximately 20 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed and the grains are soft and sprouted (spiraled).  Once cooked, remove from pan and place in a medium to large-sized bowl to cool slightly.

In a frying pan (you can use the same one if you want), heat 1 tsp of olive oil over medium-high heat.  Saute the fresh minced garlic for about 1 minute, or just until it begins to turn golden.  Add diced onion and continue to saute for an additional 1-2 minutes. After a couple of minutes, add in the diced celery and saute for another 1-2 minutes. Remove sauteed mixture from heat and place in the same bowl as the quinoa.

Add in the bell pepper, green onion, cilantro, olives and black beans; toss well.

In a separate bowl, combine the balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp olive oil, coriander powder and cumin powder; whisk all together with a fork.  Pour over the quinoa mixture and toss well.

It tastes best when served chilled!

Tips:
*You can add diced chicken to this as well to make it more filling - I haven't tried it yet, but I think a light honey-glazed, grilled and diced chicken breast might taste good

Lentil Soup (Daal)

Yield: approximately 4 1/4 cups 

What You'll Need:

1 1/2 c. red lentils

4 1/2 c. water

1 roma or small tomato, chopped

1/4 onion, chopped

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tbs. olive oil

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp whole cumin seed

  

What to do:
Place lentils, water, chopped tomato, chopped onion, salt and red pepper flakes in a medium to large-sized saucepan over high heat. Bring to boil (uncovered), stirring occasionally.  Once the lentils begin to boil reduce the heat to med-low and continue to cook (covered; med-slow simmer) for about 15 minutes,  stirring occasionally.  Once lentils are cooked (will be mushy, slightly lumpy and have a thick soup-like consistency) add in the lemon juice.

In a frying pan, heat olive oil over medium heat, then add cumin seed and garlic powder.  Saute over med-high heat (making sure that all ingredients are soaked with the oil) until cumin seed start to turn brown, begin to sizzle and garlic powder turns golden brown (approximately 1 1/2 to 2 minutes; see video clip). Promptly remove from heat and dump into the saucepan containing the cooked lentils (will make a sizzling sound when added). Stir the sauteed mixture into the lentils, check for salt (if needs more add 1/4 tsp at a time, until reaches desired taste).

Garlic powder and cumin seed in olive oil (before sauteing)

Quick Tips:
* You can also serve this over rice (brown or white) instead of eating it like a soup
* Add more or less water to change the consistency (you may need to add more salt if adding additional water)