Foodie Friday

I started making dinner this morning, I had some free time, and then realized that Robbie and I are celebrating our anniversary tonight with dinner at a posh restaurant and a room at the Doubletree in the Old Market. So dinner became lunch. When I ate meat one of our favorite meals was stuffed peppers, so I decided to veggie it up!

Veggie Stuffed Peppers
adapted from my friend Warren

Ingredients:
8oz tempeh
1/2c. diced onion
1 garlic clove minced--I use WAY more. But we're garlicy people
1-2T olive oil
2 1/2c diced zucchini
1 tsp chili pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 can tomato soup
1/4lb grated sharp cheese-- I used what was in the fridge and came up with about 1c shredded
1c. quinoa cooked according to package
4 medium peppers

Heat crumbled tempeh in a pan with olive oil, onions and garlic. Add zucchini and let it cook for a couple of minutes so the zucchini gets a chance to start cooking. --I like some firmness to my zucchini, if you like them softer toss them in with the tempeh or cook the mixture a little longer to give them a head start.

Add seasonings and soup.

Simmer for a few more minutes--the original recipe says 10min but I found since there is no meat the soup reduced down pretty quickly.

Add cheese and cooked quinoa. (I ended up using closer to 2C--Stir to combine and cook for a few minutes longer.

Cut and clean out peppers.

Boil in salted water for 4 minutes.

Drain and cool.

Place peppers in a baking dish, fill with stuffing and bake at 350 for 30min.
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I pretty much never do that last part. I do clean out the peppers but I boil them long enough to soften them, fill them and eat them. The baking part warms the stuffing mixture and softens the peppers a little more--but the longer boiling works just as well. Im pretty sure baking would also soften the zucchini more but like I said I like mine with some bite to them!

This is my second attempt at using at tempeh and while I like the dish I feel that the tempeh always hits my taste buds a little oddly. Could be the fermentation? Or maybe I need to try a different brand? Anyone else use tempeh?