Greek-Style Stuffed Bell Peppers With Quinoa

This a Greek take on the classic beef stuffed pepper. Lemon, cinnamon, fennel and oregano spice up traditional ground beef and onions, while healthy quinoa adds extra fiber. There seem to be a lot of steps, but this one goes together in about 20 minutes. It works great if you have pre-browned ground beef in your freezer.

• Ready In: 50 mins
• Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 2  bell peppers, color of your choice
• 1⁄2 lb ground beef
• 1⁄2 medium  white onion
• 2  garlic cloves
• 1  teaspoon olive oil
• 1⁄2 cup quinoa, cooked according to package directions
• 2  tablespoons lemon juice
• 1  tablespoon lemon zest
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1  pinch cinnamon
• 1  pinch fennel seed
•  salt & pepper
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons oregano
• 2  tablespoons feta cheese
• 2  tablespoons cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Set a pot of water to boil. Remove tops from peppers and cut in half length-wise. Seed and devein peppers. Reserve pepper tops. Once water has boiled, add peppers and cook for 7-8 minutes. Drain water and run cold water over peppers.
3. Finely dice pepper tops.
4. In a medium skillet, heat olive oil. Saute onion and garlic over medium-high heat until soft, about 5 minutes. Add ground beef and cook until browned.
5. Cook quinoa according to package directions.
6. Into ground beef, stir lemon juice and zest, tomato sauce, cooked quinoa and spices.
7. Cook until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
8. Stuff peppers with ground beef mixture. Top with cheese. Place peppers in a greased baking pan and cover with aluminum foil.
9. Bake in a 375 degrees F oven for 15 minutes. Uncover and bake and additional 15 minutes.