QUINOA STUFFED MUSHROOMS

Quinoa Stuffed Mushrooms image

Are you a quinoa fan? Well, you WILL be once you try this scrumtastic recipe! A terrific combination of flavors and textures...

Provided by Cindy d'Aquin-Pike

Time 3h

Number Of Ingredients 18

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Ingredients

4-6 clove very finely minced garlic
1 large, finely chopped onion
1-2 stringed finely chopped celery ribs
1/4 small very finely chopped cabbage-use only the very inner part of the cabbage*
1/4 c minced fresh parsley leaves
3-4 * finely minced green onions
1/2 lb meatless crumbles*
2 crumbled Garden Veggie patties
1/2 tsp dry, crushed red pepper flakes
1/8 c chopped walnuts
3 tsp ground flax seed (opt.)
to taste Zatarain's seasoning-spicy salt, sans the msg
1/2 bunch fresh, washed, and well drained baby spinach
1/8 c grated Parmesan cheese*
1 1/2 * fresh roasted red peppers
1 c quinoa, cooked with a bay leaf and 1 tbsp olive oil
1 pkg baby portebello mushrooms, with the stems removed
dash(es) ground nutmeg and clove, to taste

Steps:

1. In a large stock pot, saute onions, garlic, celery, cabbage, and parsley until tender and a bit dry.
2. Add the meatless crumbles, and the crumbled veggie patty, walnuts, spices, and the cooked quinoa. Mix gently and set aside.
3. Coat the bottom of a large baking pan with olive oil. Tear the cooled red peppers into strips. (Each pepper should yield eight strips).
4. Lay eight strips down on the bottom of the baking pan. Spread the spinach leaves on top of the red peppers. Sprinkle the cheese on top of the spinach. Place the mushrooms on top, with the hole side up.
5. Cover everything with the quinoa mix, making sure that the caps are nice and full of the mix.
6. Lay the remaining strips of red peppers on top of the mix. Bake at 350 for about 50 min.
7. There are several ways that you can roast peppers. The 'laziest' way is to put a sheet of parchment paper on a baking tray, spray the pepper with cooking spray and set the oven to 350. Put the peppers in, uncovered for about 45 minutes. When the peppers are about half done, turn them over. The skin is very hot!! When the pepper is exposed to air, and the skin peels away easily, it is done. Remove from the oven, and cover with a big bowl (to allow them to steam). After they cool, the skin will slip right off of them. You can also broil the peppers. I stand right next to my oven when I use this method, as the peppers burn very quickly. This method only takes about ten minutes, but be sure that all sides are darkened. Follow above directions after removing the peppers from the oven. The third way is done on the stove using a hot skillet. Just roll the peppers back and forth until they are blackened. Another way is to stick a fork in the pepper, hold over a gas flame until blackened. Follow as above. Or, you can pick up a jar of them from the grocery.
8. *I like to use the inner 'chunk' of cabbage since it is much sweeter. It is ok to use all of the green onion, white as well as green. My meatless brand of choice is Morning Star. Both the crumbles and the Garden Veggie patties can be found in the freezer section, in green packaging. The patties will add an extra bit of crunch, as they have water chestnuts in them. If you choose to use the flax seed, it doesn't change the taste the, but it will thicken the entire dish. I was going to use mozzarella cheese but was out. The Parmesan cheese worked fine. I wasn't going for a binder since the flax seed will do that.