Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers

I'm a little behind on posting recipes I've made recently, but I just couldn't wait any longer to share this delicious and healthy dinner that I made (a few weeks ago now I think). I know that I often post recipes for my more indulgent baking experiments, but I thought I'd change it up a little with this nutritious main dish. Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers are a great vegetarian meal (I swear we do eat meat sometimes, but usually my vegetarian recipes are a little more creative!) that is full of protein thanks to my favorite superfood, quinoa! I've always had stuffed peppers with rice, but the quinoa is a nice alternative that helps to give this meatless meal a little more substance. As always, I'm sharing the original recipe (which is from Sweet Peas Kitchen) with my modifications in parentheses.

Here's what you'll need: 

2 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped (about 1 cup)

2 ribs celery, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)

1/2 of a poblano pepper, diced

1 tablespoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons garlic, minced (I always double the garlic in any recipe)

1 8-oz. package mushrooms, stems removed, caps sliced very thin (I omitted these) 

1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained, liquid reserved

3/4 cup quinoa

3 large carrots, grated (1 1/2 cups)

1 (14.5 ounce) can low-sodium vegetable broth (I used chicken broth instead)

1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup frozen corn, thawed

1 1/2 cups grated Pepper Jack cheese, divided

Salt and pepper to taste

4 large red bell peppers, halved lengthwise, ribs removed (I used green instead as the red peppers at the market the day I shopped for this recipe were not looking so great, plus I think you get more visual appeal with the green peppers in this recipe!)

Here's what you'll need to do:

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, celery and poblano pepper and cook 5 minutes, or until soft. 

Add cumin and garlic, and sauté 1 minute. 

 

Stir in mushrooms and drained tomatoes. 

 

Cook 5 minutes, or until most of liquid has evaporated. Stir in quinoa, carrots and vegetable broth. 

Cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 20 minutes, or until quinoa is tender. Remove from heat and stir in black beans, corn and 1 cup cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper. 

Preheat oven to 350°F. Pour reserved liquid from tomatoes in bottom of baking dish. Fill each bell pepper half with heaping 3/4-cup quinoa mixture, and place in baking dish. 

Cover with foil, and bake 40 minutes. Uncover, and sprinkle each pepper with 1 tablespoon of remaining cheese. 

Bake 15 minutes more, or until tops of stuffed peppers are browned. Let stand 5 minutes. Transfer stuffed peppers to serving plates, and drizzle each with pan juices before serving. 

Enjoy!! Xoxo