Quinoa Stuffed Zucchini and Quinoa Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms

Fall is a great time to be preparing zucchini dishes. If you are like me you have zucchini coming out your ears. And if you don't have a garden I am sure you can find a friend who does who is willing to spare a few. This time a year I always see a basket of zucchini's at church free for the taking.

I am always trying to think of fun things to make with my zucchini's. A friend of mine shared a stuffed zucchini recipe with me a few weeks ago. It had an italian flare using meat, tomato sauce, basil and mozzerella cheese and more. I have been pondering making it until last night when I remembered I had some Quinoa that needed to be used. I thought, hmmm....I wonder what Quinoa stuffed zucchini's would taste. So I ventured out to make them. I ran to the market to get some ingredients I didn't have. While there I notice the most beautiful Portabella Mushrooms. I contemplated how they would taste stuffed with Quinoa. So I bought two large ones.

The recipe was fairly easy to make. Don't fret from the steps. You can do most of them simultaneously and it shouldn't take more than 30 minutes to throw together. I prepared my zucchini's and made one with cheese and one without to compare the difference. Then did the same with two mushrooms. When baking mushrooms I like to have a little broth in the bottom of the pan. This is just something I have always done and it adds lot of flavor and moisture.

I have to tell you these smelled so delicious while baking. I couldn't wait to sink my teeth into them. I took them out of the oven and they looked fabulous. My kids were more excited about the mushrooms than the zucchini but they tried both. The prefered the mushrooms but aren't real big zucchini fans. I loved them both. Truly they are great with or without cheese. The cheese does help hold the quinoa together when slicing and serving though. This is definately a recipe I will keep in my collection. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.











Ingredients:

1 medium large zucchini or 6-8 portabella mushrooms
1 cup quinoa
1 ½ cup chicken broth or vegetable stock
¼ tsp. salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil

½ cup onion, diced
¾ cup red and or orange peppers, diced
¾ cup carrot, thin sliced
¾ cup mushrooms, sliced and diced
1 Tbsp. oil
3 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
Fresh Ground Pepper to taste

½ -1 cup Italian cheese blend or mozzarella cheese, optional

Directions: Preheat oven to 350°.

Prepare Quinoa: Add chicken broth or veggie stock to medium saucepan. Pour in quinoa. Add salt, minced garlic and olive oil. Stir to combine. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer covered for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to rest for a minute or two. Fluff with fork. Add to veggie mix as directed.

Zucchini Instructions: Par boil zucchini until it just begins to be soft to touch. If the zucchini is bigger than your pot, boil on one side till soft then flip to put the other side in boiling water. When soft to touch, (not mushy), remove from water, slice in half lengthwise. Scoop out seeds and center. Fill with veggie mix as directed.

Portabella Mushroom Instructions: Gently wash mushroom with wet paper towel. Remove stem. Place ¼- ½ cup chicken broth or veggie stock in bottom of baking dish. Just enough to have a thin layer on the bottom of baking dish. Fill with veggie mix as directed.

Veggie Mix: While quinoa is cooking, sauté onion, peppers, carrots and mushrooms in oil until onions become soft and slightly translucent. Remove from heat. Season with fresh pepper to taste. Stir in fresh parsley. Add cooked quinoa to the frying pan. Stir to combine. Taste to see if you need extra salt or pepper. Scoop the mixture evenly into prepared zucchini or mushrooms. It is good to use a spoon to pack the mixture in put enough in to have small mounds. Sprinkle with cheese if desired. Bake for 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and zucchini is tender. Mushrooms only need to bake for 30 minutes.
If mixture looks dry, just before taking out of oven drizzle 1-2 Tbsp. extra broth or stock to moisten.
Serve warm.