Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Carrot-Ginger Quinoa Pepperjacks

I was definitely in the Halloween spirit this week, but not feeling terribly original I guess. First I made a snakewich (concept stolen from Better Homes and Gardens) and now I've gone and robbed pepperjacks from a blogger named spabettie. But can you blame me? Really, they're just so cute. I couldn't help myself. And the quinoa cooked in the carrot-ginger juice tastes really fresh and delicious. Plus it's good for you (that was just a happy accident).


CARROT-GINGER QUINOA PEPPER JACKS
Yield: 2

1/2 cup dry black quinoa
1 cup carrot-ginger juice (5 carrots + 1-inch piece ginger, juiced)
1 cup cooked black beans
2 orange bell peppers
sea salt
spinach salad for serving (optional)


1.      Combine quinoa and carrot-ginger juice in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for 20 minutes.
2.      Preheat oven to 350º F.
3.      Hollow out and carve the peppers to resemble jack-o-lanterns.
4.      Combine cooked quinoa with black beans and salt to taste.
5.      Fill peppers and bake for 30 minutes.
6.      Serve over spinach salad if desired.

carrots and ginger
juicing carrots and ginger

If you don't have a juicer, see if you can find carrot or
carrot-ginger juice in the refrigerated section at your
store. If you can find plain carrot juice, you can always
grate some ginger and squeeze the juice in yourself.
carrot-ginger juice
black quinoa

I think this would also taste/look good with black forbidden rice.
quinoa and carrot-ginger juice in pan
cooked quinoa with black beans mixed in
cutting my pepper jack

I went a little overboard with my cutouts.
They should be much more dainty, especially the
mouth (unless you're actually trying to make it look
like your pepper jack is throwing up quinoa).
filling a pepper
filled pepper jacks, before baking
baked

See what I mean, the one on the left looks like
he just ate expired clams from a gas station.
.

4 comments:

Andria Crowjoy said...

Expired clams from a gas station, hahahah!

Elizabeth (Foodie, Formerly Fat) said...

This is really very good. I ate it last night and my only lament was that I ate too much of the soup and couldn't eat it all. Yum!

My 3 year old took one look at it and declared Susan a "genius" because it looked just like a Jack-o-Lantern. I agree, she's a genius.

Susan said...

I wish everyone was as easy to impress as you guys (although I can see why a 3-year-old might feel that way)!

And yes, Virginia, there is black quinoa.

BarelyKnitTogether said...

Everything about this post cracked me up. I am pinning these adorable things. Gas station clams - I feel a little ill myself.

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