We had family in town a while ago and rather than going out every night, we decided to stay in a test out new recipes. My sister-in-law and I (for the most part) are vegetarian so we gave this Quinoa Stuffed Pepper recipe a try. My husband being a carnivore just added ground turkey (& more cheese, of course) and was just as satisfied. Note: Please allow 2+ hours for prep & cook time.

Ingredients

• 1 medium onion, finely chopped (1 cup)
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 ribs celery, finely chopped (1/2 cup)
• 1 Tbsp ground cumin
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp)
• 1 10-0z pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 2 15-oz cans diced tomatoes, drained, liquid reserved
• 1 15-oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 3/4 cup quinoa
• 3 large carrots, grated (1 1/2 cups)
• 1 1/2 cups grated reduced-fat pepper Jack cheese, divided (If lactose intolerant, don’t add the cheese. I didn’t)
• 4 large red bell peppers, halved lengthwise, ribs removed

Directions

• Heat oil in saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, celery, and cook for 5 minutes or until soft. Add cumin and garlic, saute for 1 minute. Stir in spinach and drained tomatoes. Cook 5 minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated.
• Stir in black beans, quinoa, carrots, and 2 cups water. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 20 minutes or until quinoa is tender. Stir 1 cup cheese. Season with salt and pepper, if desired.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour 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 1 hour. Uncover and sprinkle each bell pepper with 1 Tbsp remaining cheese. Bake 15 minutes more, or until tops of stuffed peppers are browned. Let stand 5 minutes. Transfer stuffed peppers to serving plates. Serves 8

For leftovers, try the “stuffing” alone – without the baked bell pepper. Delicious! Or, if you like the flavor of the bell pepper, use a fresh one instead, that way you save an hour of baking time. Bon Appetit!

Source: Vegetarian Times

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