Stuffed peppers. A great comfort food that is both healthy and high and protein, this vegetarian alternative does a wonderful job of filling out a similar taste, texture, and nutritional profile.
Your salsa choice makes a big impact of the flavor in these, so make sure to try different kinds.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup quinoa
- 2 cups vegetable stock
- 4 large red, yellow, or orange bell peppers, halved, seeds removed
- 1/2 cup salsa (I like Ms. Renfro’s salsa, you can find it in most ethnic food aisles)
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 2 tsp cumin powder
- 1 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 15-ounce can black beans, drained
- 1 cup whole kernel corn, drained
Stuffed pepper toppers:
- 1 avocado (or guacamole)
- fresh lime juice
- hot sauce
- cilantro, chopped (tastes like soap, but I know some of you out there love it!)
- diced red or sweet onion
Directions:
Add quinoa and vegetable stock to a saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, reduce heat, cover, and simmer until all liquid is absorbed and quinoa is fluffy – about 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees and lightly grease/spray baking dish.
Brush halved peppers oil of your choice (extra virgin olive oil, grapeseed oil, etc).
Add cooked quinoa (follow instructions on package) to a large mixing bowl and add remaining ingredients (DO NOT include stuff pepper toppers ingredients). Mix to thoroughly combine then taste and adjust seasonings accordingly, adding salt, pepper, or more spices as desired.
Generously stuff halved peppers with quinoa mixture until all peppers are full, then cover the dish with foil.
Bake for 30 minutes covered. Then remove foil, increase heat to 400 degrees and bake for another 15-20 minutes, or until peppers are soft and slightly golden brown.
Add toppers of your choice. I personally prefer guacamole and spicy salsa!
Enjoy yo!