Mexican Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers

Lakerdog2's Note:

I had some bell peppers I had to use and came up with this recipe tonight. They turned out great!

• Total Time: 50 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 35 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 4

Yield: 4.0 peppers

• 4 green bell peppers, tops cut off
• 1 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1/4-1/2 red onion, diced
• 1 -2 minced garlic clove, depending on how much you like
• 3 tablespoons diced green peppers (chop up the tops of the bell peppers when you cut them off)
• 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can black beans, drained
• 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can diced petite tomatoes, drained well
• 1/8 cup salsa
• 3/4 cup corn
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/8 cup fresh cilantro, i use alot (use more or less depending on how much you like it.)

Directions:

1. Cook bell peppers in boiling water for 3-4 minutes to soften a little. (I did this because I was short on time and wanted to decrease baking time. You can of course, skip this and just stuff the raw peppers, then bake.).
2. Cook Quinoa in chicken broth, NOT water!
3. In a saucepan, sautee onions, garlic and chopped bell pepper tops.
4. Add rest of ingredients and cook until warmed through.
5. Fluff quinoa when it's done and add to saucepan with everything else.
6. Stuff peppers with the mix.
7. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes depending on the size of your peppers and how much they cooked when they were pre-boiled. They should take no more than 15 minutes for smaller peppers. If you stuffed the peppers raw, they will need to bake for 30-40 minutes. Put a few tablespoons of water in the bottom of the dish too.).
8. NOTE: I wanted to add olives, but had none, so those would be good too. Some cheddar cheese would be great too.

Reviews

[Secretly Southern]

I made these three times now! I've learned that if you simmer all stuffing ingredients w/uncooked quinoa for 20 minutes it combines flavors so much better plus there's no need to precook quinoa (also omit broth!), stuff RAW peppers, and bake for an hour, they turn out better. They are now in my top 10! :) Thanks so much for posting!!!!! ps. I *love* the cumin taste in these (I bumped it up to a tbsp and omitted the oregano)...delish!

[MsJena]

To make the recipe quicker, I like to just chop up all of the bell peppers and saute rather than stuffing them and baking.

[Ricky007]

Love it.