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It’s an all red recipe!  With red quinoa, roasted red peppers, and red enchilada sauce, these Roasted Red Pepper and Quinoa Enchiladas make your #MeatlessMonday colorfully delicious!

So are these enchiladas.  More on that in a minute.

When I first started eating quinoa, I had no idea there were other colors.  I don’t think other colors were even advertised or sold at that time.  It was 2001?  I think?  Maybe 2002.  Since 2006, the demand for the crop has almost nearly tripled!  Which is sort of interesting since it’s an ancient grain.  I mean, the the Incas referred to it as the “mother of all grains” so it’s not really new.  Just saying…

And it’s not really new to me, but all the different colors are, though.  Dad, in his pantry purge of all carbs gave us a bag of tri-color with red, black and white, and a bag of red.  I had no idea it was grown in either color; red or black.  So, when the theme for this months #WeekdaySupper was red, I knew I would be using that red quinoa he gave me.  What to pair with it?  Red peppers of course!  And what else?  Red enchilada sauce?  YES!  And enchiladas were born!!

It just looks weird, doesn’t it?  These red seeds looking weird just hanging out in the pan with some onions.  You can’t tell from looking at it that it has 14 grams of protein per 100 grams cooked.  Granted not as much as some beans, but it is gluten free and more digestible than some other forms of dietary fiber.  No wonder it’s called the “mother of all grains.”

Funny story.  I was experimenting with all types of grains in the early 2000s.  Quinoa and millet included.  I really like millet, but haven’t had it in a while.  Hmm….  Anyway.  The first time I made quinoa, I knew NOTHING and I mean NOTHING about it.  So, when I made it and it had that white squiggly looking thing in there, I thought I had done something wrong.

To be honest, there really wasn’t much written about it, how it’s cooked, what it looks it, and how it tasted when I first started cooking quinoa.  And I was a little hesitant to introduce S to this great grain, too.  Now it’s popping up in cereal, oatmeal mixes, protein bars, etc.  Sometimes, I’m just a little too ahead of the trends; food wise anyway.  Blog wise?  Not so much.  Something about a full time job…

Anyway.

I almost face planted in this bowl.  The quinoa, beans, cheese, onions.  #NOMZ!  It was so tasty and I did save the filling in case I needed something for lunch later.  It truly was that delicious!!  The herbs and spices were perfect additions to this yummy filling.  You could easily use this to stuff peppers, tortillas, butternut squash, tamales even?  Yeah, I’m trying to think outside the box.  I usually try to in all aspects of my life.

The quinoa pairs well with whole wheat tortillas.  Just saying.  You could easily get your DRA (daily recommended allowance) of dietary fiber for the day in this meal alone.  Whole wheat tortillas, quinoa, black beans.  We used low fat cheddar cheese to make it a little more healthy for us.  S has the cholesterol issue so we also keep things low fat for him.  I just don’t see this meal getting much healthier.  A little corn and tomato salsa and it’s the perfect meal!

You can’t resist all that cheesy, pepper-y, healthy goodness!  This is perfect for a #MeatlessMonday meal or any other vegetarian main dish.  Some soy cheese and it’s vegan, I think.  Though don’t quote me on that.  These babies are definitely worth whipping up for any meal!

Make sure to scroll down and check out some of the other delicious dishes served up by the #SundaySupper members doing #WeekdaySuppers this week.  And, don’t forget to stop back by on Sunday for our Twitter #SundaySupper chat.  We’re chatting about Celebrating Fat Tuesday and Mardi Gras with decadent recipes.