Porcini & Quinoa Stuffed Sweet Peppers

It was a good dinner. Husband asked when I could make it again. I think the secret was the cream on top. It was actually sour cream with lemon juice, zest, salt and milk. M thinks she hates sour cream. I told her it was cream on top omitting the "sour" part and she thought it was awesome. My new ingredient of the month is smoked paprika, so I worked the dish around that spice. Smoked paprika is different than regular paprika. I think it has the most wonderful smoky taste. When I smell it, I am reminded of BBQ potato chips! You may have to look a bit harder for this spice. I was not able to find it in regular grocery stores. The porcini powder is simply dried porcini mushrooms that I ground in a coffee grinder. Most grocery stores do sell these wonderfully distinct mushroom variety.
This dish was really very easy. The peppers came from our local farm stand which I am absolutely in love with.
Since husband has been laying off the meat, I used firm tofu and it really worked well. This recipe will make two very large peppers, or 3-4 quite small peppers.

Stuffed Peppers
1 cup crumbled extra firm tofu
1 med. onion finely chopped
1 cup quinoa
1 heaping tbls. dried porcini mushroom powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
2 cloves garlic chopped
2 tbls extra virgin olive oil
salt to taste
1 tbls apple cider or champagne vinegar
2 cups water

Cream Sauce
1 cup sour cream
2 tsp lemon juice
zest of 1/2 lemon
salt to taste
2 tsp milk

In pot add quinoa, porcini powder, garlic and water. Bring to boil, then cover and turn down to simmer. Cook for about 20 minutes or until quinoa is cooked. Let stand 10 minutes then fluff with a fork.

In a sautee pan add 1 tbls olive oil, onion and tofu. Cook for about 10 minutes on med. high heat. Onions should be wilting and becoming translucent. Add a bit of water if it seems to be getting to dry. Add vinegar and smoked paprika. Stir occasionally for another 5 minutes, then turn off heat.
In a bowl add quinoa and tofu mixture. Add 1/2 of the remaining tbls. of olive oil to the mixture. Taste for salt.
Cut tops off peppers and remove seeds as best you can. Stuff peppers and use a spoon to push mixture into peppers if you need to.
Use remaining olive oil to coat outside of peppers and put in a baking dish.
Bake at 375 degrees for about 50-60 minutes. Test doneness of peppers by using a sharp knife to gently pierce skin. It should be very soft.

In a bowl add sour cream, lemon juice, zest and milk. Stir and taste for salt. Spoon on top of peppers before serving.