Again, I didn't have any certain meal planned for dinner, but knew I wanted to hit up the farmers market to pick up some local produce. It was a beautiful afternoon so Nic and I walked up to the square with Maia to check things out.
I was a little disappointed at first by the number of vendors on hand as we normally have a really great farmers market for our tiny town, and wasn't too certain I'd walk out with anything. However, a few minutes later I had my bag full of some good eats and a great idea for dinner!
My loot::
6 ears sweet corn
2 yellow zucchini
small box of jalapenos
big box of green beans
2 green bell peppers
All that for a measly ten bucks!
I got home and immediately started on dinner, cooked Kier style - a little of this, a lot of that and a ton of garlic! Maddie hates it when I cook this way...although she is having to get a little creative over there in Sweden!
Spicy Stuffed Peppers
You'll need::
2 bell peppers - cut in half lengthwise, seeded
1 carrot - diced
2 small ears of corn - kernels chopped off
1 jalapeno - diced
3 cloves garlic - minced
about 1 cup beef (I used Wednesday's leftovers) - chopped, shredded, ground, whatev'
1 T olive oil
1/3 cup + 2 T water
1/2 t cumin
1/4 t onion powder
1 t chili powder
1/8 t cayenne pepper
1/2 cup quiona - cooked according to package
Pepper jack cheese
Plain yogurt or sour cream (optional)
Preheat oven to 375*
Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add carrot and sauté until slightly brown. Add jalapeno, corn and garlic. Sauté another minute.
Add water, spices and meat, stir to combine. Stir in quinoa. Check spices, salt and pepper to taste.
Stuff them peppers! A heaping pile of the delicious filling should do ya. Top with pepper jack and cook for about 30 minutes. (I had enough extra filling to fill one to two more small peppers.)
Whew - these guys were spicy! The yogurt was definitely not an option here and needed it to cool our palettes from all the kick. We loved the spiciness though and probably wouldn't change it - unless of course we had people over. Then we might tone it down a bit. And next time we cook these guys up, I will add a bit more water (maybe bump it up to 1/2 cup).
I asked Nic what he liked/disliked about this dish:
Liked - the different textures from the melt-in-your-mouth beef, crispy sweet corn, to the fluffy-creamy-yet-slightly-crunchy quinoa.
Disliked - not enough meat (of course!) and needed more sauce.
He for sure saw this as a dish that we could serve visitors, which always means it's a winner.
We served these along side some fresh green beans from the farmers market. I simply nuked them with a little water for 2 minutes and seasoned with salt and pepper. Simply delicious.
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After dinner we biked over to one of Nic's co-wokers place to watch the Vikings game...with a slight detour to pick up some ice cream at the Korner Kreamery. Can you say peanut butter oreo cyclone (blizzard)?? HOLYYUM. We've been really good this summer and have only been there twice before last night. Pretty sure I inhaled the entire thing while Nic was enjoying his beer. Hey - you snooze you lose mister! :)
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"So guess what?! Did I tell you yet?? WE ARE GOING TO FRANCE & SPAIN!" :) Nic heard that all night, and pretty sure he will hear it for the next three months...so excited!
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