This meal came about pretty randomly as it began with spying some adorable baby bell peppers at the grocery store the other day. I had no idea what I was making for dinner when I arrived at the grocery store, but I knew I wanted to use the vibrant little peppers. I picked up an avocado, my typical herbs (cilantro, basil, flat parsley), green onion and a purple onion. So far my cart was pretty random, but as soon as I got to the meat section and saw a package of beef stew meat (normally for veggie soup, etc.) I realized I could put the bell peppers with the beef on kabob sticks. It was raining out and not the best night for grilling, so buying this type of beef worked well for “indoor” pan seared kabobs. I remembered I had quinoa at home and could use the avocado with that and also, I basically had all the ingredients in my cart and staples at home to make a chimichurri sauce for the kabobs. Voila! Dinner planning donezo. The moral to this is that don’t be afraid to go to the store and just grab what looks good… cooking is about experimenting and if it fails there is always take-out!

Quinoa Avocado Mash

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rinsed quinoa & 2 cups water
• 1 avocado
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1/2 cup chopped green onion
• 1/2 cup flat parsley chopped (and some basil chopped, optional)
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic (I keep a jar in my fridge)
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• bring the rinsed quinoa and water to a boil, cover and reduce to a simmer for 10-12 minutes, should fluff easily with a fork when finished cooking
• while that is cooking combine the rest of the ingredients in a food processor or by hand until a guacamole texture forms
• combine the cooked quinoa and avocado mixture together and serve warm

Chimichurri Sauce

• in a food processor or blender combine the following (pulse only a few seconds) / you can also mix all the ingredients by hand and then slowly whisk the olive oil in last…
• 3/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 pinch/dash red pepper flakes (crushed red pepper)
• 1/3 cup chopped red onion or shallots
• 1/2 cup freshly minced flat leaf parsley
• 1/4 cup freshly minced oregano

“Indoor” Beef & Baby Bell Pepper Kabobs

• 1 lb package beef stew meat or you can cube top round or tenderloin
• 1 package baby bell peppers (if you cannot find these, then use sliced bell pepper, zucchini, squash, onion, mushroom, whatever!)
• kabob sticks
• in a skillet over medium high heat cook the meat until medium rare (this happens very fast) and the peppers until tender
• spear and top with chimichurri sauce