Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers

Preheat oven to 350F.

Cook ¾ cups quinoa in 1 1/2 cups chicken stock. Bring stock to a boil, add in quinoa. Let simmer until all liquid is absorbed.

Chop onion, green bell pepper, and garlic. Saute in olive oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add in ground turkey. Brown meat (about 6 minutes or so). Once meat is brown, add quinoa, tomato sauce, spices, parsley, basil, and salt and pepper. Mix together. Let simmer for about 5 minutes.

While stuffing is simmering, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Dunk each bell pepper in boiling water for about two minutes. This will brighten the color and is supposed to enhance the flavor. Carefully remove peppers from water. Let cool, then chop off the top and clean out the inside of the peppers.

I like to mix the cheese into the peppers while they are simmering, but you can choose to just sprinkle it on top at the end. Stuff each pepper with quinoa mixture. Bake in a glass pyrex for about 15 minutes.

**This recipe won the Dallas Semi-Final Cook Off for the Aetna Healthy Food Fight in October 2011. It will be competing for the grand prize in NYC in December 2011!**