Double Duty

A few days ago I conducted an experiment that ended up being a huge success!! I had bought a pound of turkey to try making stuffed peppers, but decided that since I'm only one person and live alone I don't need to make a whole pound of turkey worth.  So I bought only 4 peppers and figured that I'd use half of the turkey for the pepper stuffing.  The other half a pound of turkey I decided I'd make some sort of turkey meatloaf.  I really wanted to make them small so I thought I'd use my mini muffin tin.

Well, when I started to look and see what I had around in the apartment to mix up for the stuffed peppers I thought to myself instead of rice (which I didn't have anyway) I'd use quinoa.  We all know I love love love quinoa!  I mixed up 1 pound ground white meat turkey, uncooked quinoa, basil, garlic, red pepper flakes, sauteed onion, egg, and salt and pepper in a bowl and that was the filling for my stuffed peppers!   I stuffed as many of the peppers I had into the small pot I had and then filled my mini muffin tin up with the rest of the meat filling.  I baked those off in the oven, and VOOOIIILLLLA before the stuffed peppers were done I had 12 mini meatloaf bites that were delicious, healthy, and filled with protein!!!

Turkey and Quinoa Filling 
(for meatloaf or stuffed peppers, see recipes below)

1 pound ground white turkey meat
1 large egg
1 teaspoon each salt and pepper
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 cup uncooked white quinoa, rinsed
1 small onion chopped small and sauteed in olive oil
3 cloves garlic
1 handful of basil leaves, about 1/2 cup

Place turkey meat, salt, pepper, egg, red pepper flakes, and rinsed quinoa in a large bowl.  In a mini food processor chop the garlic and basil together, until finely chopped.  In a pan saute chopped onions until soft and translucent, let cool.  Mix basil garlic mixture and sauteed onions into the bowl with the turkey mixture and combine ingredients together using a fork or your hand.

This is the Turkey and Quinoa Filling

Use the filling to prepare the following recipes:

Turkey Quinoa Meatloaf Bites
(makes 24 mini meatloaf bites)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Scoop about 2 tablespoons of turkey and quinoa filling into each section of your mini muffin tin and bake in oven for about 15 minutes.  Enjoy! Freeze leftover bites and save for a snack or lunch another time! Serve with some marinara sauce, yum!!

Turkey Quinoa Meatloaf Bites

Stuffed Red Peppers in Tomato Sauce

(makes about 8 stuffed peppers)

2 large can of crushed tomatoes

1 tomato can filled with water, you may need to add more as the peppers cook to prevent sauce from drying up.

2 bay leaves

salt and pepper to taste (in the sauce)

8 large red bell peppers

Cut off the tops of the peppers and take out the seeds.  Stuff each pepper to the top with turkey and quinoa filling.  Place stuffed peppers along with crushed tomatoes, bay leaves, salt and pepper, and water in a large deep pot.  (Make sure the pot you are using has a lid.) Be sure that all the peppers are covered in sauce, if you need more liquid add more water.  Let simmer on low-medium heat, while continuing to watch and stir the pot so that the peppers do not burn on the bottom, for about 45 minutes to an hour, the peppers should be soft enough to pierce with a fork and the meat should feel firm inside.  Serve with roasted veggies or a nice salad! ENJOY!

Here are the peppers simmering in crushed tomato sauce and bay leaves.  DO NOT LEAVE THIS UNATTENDED, BECAUSE THE BOTTOM OF THE PAN WILL BURN!!!!!

 Turkey Quinoa Stuffed Peppers in Tomato Sauce