This should actually be called, "Oh, I have three bell peppers and a bunch of other stuff so I will throw it together and voila." I basically just kept adding stuff as I went along :)
I'm bring you another healthy recipe. With my half marathon training, I am trying to fuel my body with nothing but good (obviously I'm not perfect). To be honest, I didn't even mean to make this vegetarian, it just so happened that I didn't have any meat to throw in there. I usually use ground beef, but I haven't been a fan of that much of late - so next time I'll put in some ground turkey. I also have never used quinoa as a filler, I usually use rice. But I'm obsessed and will use quinoa every time from now on!
I always loved when my mom would make stuffed bell peppers at home, so I decided to make it for the boys the other night, using what I had available in my fridge.
**Disclaimer: All photos were taken by Mike with my Nikon Cool Pix L120. Please do not copy, crop, or use as your own.**
Ingredients:
3 green bell peppers
1 c cooked quinoa
1/2 can whole sweet corn
1 c black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 small handful baby spinach, chopped
1/2 can Chunky Ragu (you can use fresh tomatoes, tomato sauce, or what have you)
Desired amount of olive oil
Desired amount of cheese (optional)
Always remember to
rinse your veggies. Even if you get them from an organic market like me, you can never be too careful.
First, Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. I put the peppers in some water heating up to boil, just to soften them a tad.
Take them out, cut off the tops, and
gut the peppers, seeds and all Chop the remaining. Start the quinoa (I cook mine in a rice cooker so it's a lot easier and takes up less cooking space. Let the quinoa cook while preparing the rest of the meal.
Put peppers back into boiling water, leave for 3-6 minutes, or until peppers are mildly soft.
Meanwhile,
chop onion, garlic, and spinach.
Warm up some olive oil in a small skillet,
add the chopped veggies and corn. Hold the spinach until the veggies are tender.
After the quinoa is finished, add the black beans and tomato sauce (I had some leftover sauce I used with spaghetti earlier this week, so I finished it off and added more plain tomato sauce).
Once the veggies are tender, add the spinach.
Once the veggies are cooked to your liking, remove them from heat and add them to quinoa and bean mix.
Mix together and start filling the peppers about 1/3 of the way full.
Add desired amount of cheese, which is optional (it calls for shredded, but I didn't have any, so I used sliced :P ).
Fill the rest of the way, place in a 9x9 (or what have you) pan and use the remaining quinoa mix to cover the bottom and around the peppers. Cover with foil and prepare to bake.
Bake for about 20 minutes. Uncover, bake for another 10-15 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes.
Enjoy!
Of course you can change it up as you want. But that is my version. It turned out really tasty :)
What would you change about this recipe?
