Steamed Quinoa Stuffed Peppers, Steamed cuisine Style
This is a gluten free, dairy free dinner that will satisfy all your senses. The steamed pepper is soft, full of flavor, and is paired wonderfully with the ground beef, tomato sauce, olive oil and vegetables. This mediterranean-inspired meal is kid friendly, filling, and checks all the favorite boxes: Colors, flavor, texture, wonderful smell that makes my kids salivate, a “box” (the pepper) containing a surprise-like dinner. And it’s nourishing. Oh and it’s mostly steamed!
There are so many ways to enjoy bell peppers. In the summer, one of mine is a dip ! If you have not you should try it!
In the early spring though , when I am lucky to find peppers at the store, I use them to make a filling, hearty dinner. The heart is the stuffing, made of quinoa, vegetables and ground beef. The stuffed pepper part is mostly about the presentation. My kids love removing the little top hat and looking under, as if looking for a surprise. Even the three-year-old who still pretends she does not like peppers LOVES it.
This is a gluten free, dairy free dinner that will satisfy all your senses. The steamed pepper is soft, full of flavor, and is paired wonderfully with the ground beef, tomato sauce, olive oil and vegetables. This mediterranean-inspired meal is kid friendly, filling, and checks all the favorite boxes: Colors, flavor, texture, wonderful smell that makes them salivate, a “box” (the pepper) containing a surprise-like dinner. And it’s nourishing. Oh and it’s mostly steamed!
How much of this dinner is steamed?
This dinner is 90% Steamed.
- I cook quinoa in the steam cooker. You will soon find out in video how simple it gets. Meanwhile check my video on rice, it will give you an idea!
- All vegetables are also steamed before I mix them together with olive oil, herbs , pepper salt , in the sauté pan. On steaming vegetables, also check one of my Youtube Video.
- Believe it or not, but I also precook the ground beef in the steam cooker !
Steaming makes it fast !
I usually plan ahead (That day!) and cook a big bowl of quinoa in the afternoon or at lunch, which I can use at night. Steaming the vegetables only takes the time needed for the steam cooker to get hot and ready to cook!
Kids helper also make it faster: Kids love the colors , so they love to cut the peppers and fill up on quinoa and beef . It’s also just 10 extra minutes than if I didn’t stuff peppers because I just need to open peppers, fill with the stuffing and cook 7 minutes before I serve . Nothing else different required .
Steamed Ground Beef!
Although I love grilled beef, I like it better if it has not been grilled or fried before I mix it with vegetables and tomato sauce. Pan fried beef tastes good, but it easily gets overcooked and dried. Most people cook it at high temp and burn beef fats, with makes it toxic. Personally, I find it harder to really taste the beef through the whole stuffing after pan frying.
Conversely, I do not have that problem if steam it. The trick consists in steaming it just long enough to be mostly cooked. Then, finish it mixed with the warm vegetables and tomato sauce on very low fire for a few minutes. It should remain soft and retain most of its original flavors.
What do I need to make this meal?
The list is fairly simple:
- The Vitaliseur Steam cooker. Check my How do I steam Vegetables? post to learn why this specific tool is so superior to other steamers out there for its efficiency and its incredible design. The design makes it your perfect health ally for a clean, detoxed and nutrient dense life!
- A stainless steel bowl to cook the quinoa in and a good bowl grabber
- A good, large sauté pan, stainless, granite or cast iron does not matter, although I usually prefer the lightweight stainless steel since I don’t cook at high temp, it is very easy to clean in the end.
- Of course some good wood spoons and spatula.
- Measuring spoons and cups.
Need a Steamed Cuisine shopping list? Check my What I Use and where to Purchase it post!
Alternate versions of the meal
You can try making the stuffing without any grain – you would just have to add more meat and vegetables, but that works great !
You can switch the grain and try with whole rice ! The consistency is different but it tastes great!
I sometimes add different vegetables, depending on what I have in my pantry.
- Eggplant is one – which is soft and helps keeping the beef softer.
- I sometimes replace the onion with leeks ( one small leek for a big onion).
- I like a crunch so I sometimes throw in some shaved almonds
You can make the same meal without stuffing peppers but by adding one or two sliced and steamed peppers to the mix!
I hope you enjoy it as much as we do! Bon appétit!
Steamed Quinoa Stuffed Peppers, Steam Cuisine Style
Ingredients
- 1.5 cup of dry quinoa, cooked in the steam cooker
- 2 lbs ground beef
- 2 Broccoli bouquets
- 8 oz mushrooms, sliced
- 1 or 2 shallots, diced ( or one leak, sliced thin and cooked three minutes in the steam basket)
- 1 bell pepper, diced for the stuffing,
- 6 bell peppers to stuff
- Optional: Some sheep cheese like Manchego, grated on top of the stuffing before cooking the stuffed pepper on the steam basket;
- 2/3 to 1 jar organic tomato sauce ( we do simple and get the one at Aldi!) ( 1 to 1.5 lb of sauce)
Dressing
Instructions
- Start with filling up the tank and turning on the stove on high heat !
- Then add 1.5 cup of dry quinoa, rinse three times to get rid of naturally occurring pesticides , and add 2 1/4 cup water to a stainless steel bowl. Place the bowl into the steam basket and cover with the lid. Cook for about 15 minutes (tip: it does cook faster if you add warm water into the bowl, use your kettle!)
- While quinoa is cooking, open the ground meat package and place the meat into another stainless steel bowl. Dice an onion or a large shallot finely, and add to the mix. Add 1 tsp salt, pepper to taste. 1 tsp oregano. Mix with your hands. Set aside .
- Cut the vegetables : peppers into 1/2 in pieces , broccoli into 1 in pieces , onion into thin slices , mushroom into thin slices .
- Get a large sauté pan and add about half a cup water, one bay leaf and 1/2 tbsp kosher/ salt . Turn on the stove on low fire .
- Once the quinoa is cooked, take the bowl out with a grabber and set aside . Place all vegetables to the steam basket making sure enough holes are free so the steam passes through abundantly. Steam Everything no more than4 minutes , then transfer into the pan. After the vegetables , place the meat in the steam basket spread across so it cooks fast ( or cook on the pan with olive oil) for 4 minutes .
- In the pan, mix the vegetables , add 1 tbsp oregano and drizzle olive oil. Add salt to taste . Then add 3 cups of cooked quinoa and 2 cups of tomato sauce , drizzle olive oil again and mix. Transfer the ground meat into the pan and mix again.
- Cut open the Bell peppers as high as possible so to make their “hat” has thin as can be . Fill up with the filing . Optionally: grate some manchego cheese on top ( sheep cheese) , then cover with the hat. Cover the steam cooker . ( you can fit 5 peppers at one time , 6 if they are small). Cook 7 minutes .
- Once peppers are cooked take out the basket to not burn yourself . Turn off the stove. Take the peppers out of the steam basket with tongues onto a bowl/ serving platter or back in the pan . Serve hot, along with the rest of the stuffing on the sauté pan.
- Bon appétit
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