Quinoa or Rice Stuffed Peppers

makhubbard somewhere in southern utah's Note:

This is a very heart friendly recipe and has no meat in it at all. Has tons of flavor and very filling. This dish freezes well for futire meals. Quinoa provides whole-grain goodness and a serving of protein. If you don't have quinoa you can use minute rice instead.

• Total Time: 2 hrs 10 mins
• Prep Time: 40 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs 30 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 8

Yield: 8.0 halves

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, finley chopped (1 cup)
• 2 celery ribs, finley chopped (1/2 cup)
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 2 garlic cloves, minced (2 tsp)
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dy
• 2 (15 ounce) cans diced tomatoes, drained, reserve liquid
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 3/4 cup quinoa or 3/4 cup rice
• 3 large carrots, grated (1 1/2 c)
• 1 1/2 cups grated reduced-fat monterey jack pepper cheese, divided
• 4 large red bell peppers, halved lengthwise, ribs removed

Directions:

1. Heat oil in saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and celery and cook 5 minutes or until soft. Add Cumin and garlic, and saute for 1 minute. Stir in spinach and drained tomatoes. Cook 5 minutes or until most of the liqued has evaporated.
2. Stir in black beans, quinoa or rice, carrots, and 2 cups of water. Cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 20 minutes or until quinoa is tender. Stir in 1 cup of cheese. Season with salt and pepper, if desired.
3. Preheat oven to 350. Pour liquid from tomatoes in bottom of baking dish.
4. Fill each bell pepper half with heaping 3/4 c quiona mixture, and place in baking dish. Cover with foil, and bake 1 hour. Uncover, and sprinkle each pepper with 1 Tbs. remaining cheese. Bake 15 minutes. Transfer stuffed peppers to serving plates, and drizzle each peppers with pan juices before serving.

Reviews

[PennyG]

This is delicious! The only think I changed was that I didn't have any cumin, so I used curry powder instead. I can't wait to try it with cumin. Thanks for sharing this healthy, well rounded recipe.

[Chef #355420]

We tried this recipe with rice (I precooked it and skipped the 2 cups of water) and it was delicious!!! This will become a regular menu item in our house. I've also tried it with kidney beans with excellent results. The stuffing is a great meal all on its own or inside red peppers. This dish is satisfying and well balanced and can be served as a complete meal without the need for side dishes or it can be served as a side dish itself. Wonderful. Thank you for such a great recipe.