Sweet Pepper stuffed with Beef and Quinoa

I love to experiment with my recipes. Even one little touch of some spices or sauces can help a meal to glow. When combining two meals into one, they have to complement and balance each other to create a happy meal. "Sweet Pepper stuffed with Beef and Quinoa with Leeks" is the one. Delicate cooked Quinoa seeds lighten up the meat making the whole meal not so heavy and compacted as with rice.

                  You need:
~ 1 Lb (454g) of Sweet mini Pepper
~ 300 g of Organic ground Beef
~ 2 cups of cooked Quinoa with Leeks (see "Quinoa with Leeks" post)
~ Herbamare zesty salt to taste
~ 5 Table spoon of Basil/Tomato sauce (you can replace it for 5 Table spoons of Crashed Tomatoes and dry Basil)
~ 1/2 of Leek section.
~ 2 Bay leaves
~ Grape seed oil 
== Wash Sweet Pepper and scoop out seeds.

== Put ground Beef into a mixing bowl and add 1 cup of cooked Quinoa with Leeks. Salt with Herbamare zesty salt.

== Mix well. Place the Beef/Quinoa mixture into a plastic bag, tie up and make a little hole on the corner of the plastic bag.

== Squeeze Beef/Quinoa mixture into the Sweet Peppers to fill them up.

 == If some Beef/Quinoa mixture left, make little meatballs.

== Place into a cooking pot. Fill up the cooking pot with cold water to cover Peppers and add 1 cup of more water. Add 2 Bay leaves.

 == Place on the stove. Cover. Medium heat. Bring to boil. Simmer for 30-35 minutes.

 == Dressing. (While stuffed peppers are cooking)
Shop the half of the Leek section.
Sprinkle Grape seed oil into a frying pan and add chopped Leeks. Saute till translucent.

Add 5 Table spoon of Tomato/Basil sauce

 Mix well and saute about 2-3 minutes. If you replaced Tomato/Basil sauce for Crashed Tomatoes, saute about 5 minutes.

   Dressing is Done.
== When the cooking time is about to end, add prepared Dressing.

== Add 1 cup of cooked Quinoa with Leeks. Mix gently. Add Herbamare zesty salt to you taste. Mix gently again. Bring to boil. Simmer for 5 seconds. Done.

                          == For serving add Sour cream.
          Enjoy and Be Healthy:)

Quinoa with Leeks - Gluten Free

Quinoa ( Inca wheat) - Chenopodium quinoa- Gluten Free ancient seeds (pseudo grain), have all nine essential amino acids, that makes a complete protein. It is rich in B Vitamins and minerals as Iron, Magnesium, Zinc, Potassium and Phosphorus. It is quite a balanced food. It is easy to digest and easy to cook.
  For cooked Quinoa with Leeks recipe takes only about 20 minutes to prepare.

                           You need:
~ 1/2 cup of Quinoa seeds
~ 1 cup of cold Water. This proportion gives you 2 Cups of cooked Quinoa.
~ 1/2 Leek section
~ Grape seed oil
~ Herbamare zesty salt to your taste.

 == Measure 1/2 cup of Quinoa seeds and place them into the cooking pot. Add 1 cup of cold Water.
Place on the stove. High heat. 
Bring to boil.

== Reduce the heat on Low temperature. Cover.
Cook for additional 15 minutes. Done

 ** It is interesting. The quantities of Quinoa seeds to cook does not affect the cooking time. If your recipe calls to increase the quantities of Quinoa seeds, you take 1 cup of Quinoa seeds and 2 cups of Water.  The cooking time stays the same, just 15 minuter and you will get 4 cups of cooked Quinoa seeds.   
 Cooked Quinoa seeds are fluffy, translucent with visible white germ. Quite unusual looking seeds.
== Dress for the cooked Quinoa seeds.
Chop Leek section on thin slices. You can add green parts as well.

 Take small frying pan. Add about 1and a half of Table spoons of Grape seed oil. Place chopped Leeks into the frying pan. Saute Leeks till translucent.

 

== Add prepared Leeks to the cooked Quinoa seeds and Herbamare zesty salt to your taste. Mix well. Done.

Cooked Quinoa seeds with Leeks can be used as a side dish, or snack meal, or combinations with some other dishes.

                   Enjoy and Be Healthy:)

Eggplants fryed with Cilantro and Garlic

Eggplant - Solanum melongena - nightshades family plant is a wonderful fruit that is not only the tasty one but has healing properties as well. 20th centuries studies in German show that eggplant can help to prevent the accumulation of fatty build up inside of the arteries. Also, it helps with the high blood pressure regulation. Great fruit.
But what about bitterness? Solanine is the constituent of the plant that is responsible for the bitterness. Eggplant is one of the fruit that has to be prepare properly to avoid all pitfalls of the plant. Just soak them in salt for at least 30-40 minutes. All bitterness will go away.
Enjoy the healing properties of Eggplant fruit with Cilantro (Kinza) and Garlic.

                             You need:
 ~ Eggplant fruit
~ Garlic
~ Cilantro (Kinza)
~ Grape seed oil for frying
~ Sea Salt
~ One of the variations: ground walnuts can be added along with cilantro and garlic. Amazing combination.
 == Wash, peel and cut Eggplants on slices.

== Place into the mixing bowl, add Sea Salt (for my quantities of eggplants I used about 1/2 teaspoon). Mix and rub well each Eggplant slice with the salt. You have to cover all sides of Eggplant slices. Leave for 30-40 minutes.

 == When time is up, remove the liquid accumulated inside of the mixing bowl. This liquid eliminates all bitterness of the eggplant.

 == Lets fry them. Add Grape seed oil to the frying pan and place there Eggplant slices. Fry every slice till golden.
== Transfer into the plate with a towel paper on it and take off excess of the oil.

 == Replace into the preparing plate.

 == Peel and cut Garlic. Wash and cut Cilantro.

== Cover each Eggplant slice with Garlic and Cilantro

 == Fold in half

 == Arrange Eggplant slices with Garlic and Cilantro in the serving plate.

                         Enjoy. Be Healthy:)

Shortbread Cookies with Whole Wheat flour and Coconut sugar.

This is my favorite, the easiest and the most versatile of all Cookies doughs. The taste bears a resemblance to Shortbread Cookies but better and much healthier, as it used Whole Wheat flour (not processed but whole) and Coconut sugar.

                          You need: 

~ 250 g (1cup) of Whole Wheat flour
~ 150 g of cold Organic unsalted Butter
~ 3 Table spoon of Coconut sugar (if you do not have Coconut sugar, take a whole, unrefined, Sugar Cane)
~ 1 Egg
~ 1/2 teaspoon of Baking Soda
~ 1 teaspoon of Cinnamon
~ 1 teaspoon of Vanilla powder or 1/2 teaspoon of Vanilla extract.
~ Grater

== Preheat the oven to 350F (180C)
== Sift the Whole Wheat flour into a mixing bowl and RETURN Bran of the whole wheat into the mixing bowl as well (Whole Wheat flour is unprocessed flour that has large particles, like bran, of whole wheat goodness. Bran is large enough not to go through the fine sieve. Why we sift the flour then? Just to lift it and let the air go through the flour. That is important:)

 == Add all dry ingredients-> Baking Soda, Cinnamon, Vanilla, Coconut sugar. If you have Vanilla extract instead of Vanilla, add it in this step too. Mix well with a spoon.

== Take Butter from refrigerator and grind Cold Butter trough grater Partially right into the Whole Wheat flour with dry ingredients.

 == Mix one portion of Butter with the flour mixture lightly with your fingertips, just to dust the butter with the flour. Do Not squeeze it.

 == Grind the other half of the butter into the flour mixture and lightly dust it with the flour as well.

== Take another bowl and lightly whisk the egg.

 == Add egg into the Whole Wheat/ Butter mixture.

 == Mix well with your hands to incorporate egg into the Flour/Butter mixture. Here you can Squeeze and mix it well.

 == Form a ball, wrap with a food wrap and REFRIGERATE for at least 1 hour. After that time you can work with this dough. Usually, I prepare 3-4 times more volume of this dough. Then I divide it on portions and place in the freezer. When I need it, I defrost the dough overnight and use it. The dough can be kept for months in the freezer. Very convenient.

 == After refrigerator, divide the dough on portions (4 portions are fine) and work with the portions to form cookies. This is the Whole grain dough and it does not have this rubber elasticity as processed white flour has, that is why it is better to work with a small portions. Dust the table with the flour, roll the dough about 5 ml and form cookies. 

== Bake for 15-20 minutes. If the cookies are larger, then mine you can bake 5 minutes more. Just open the oven and check with a wooden toothpick.

             == Done. Enjoy:)

                           Be Healthy:)