A whole lot of Stuff

While most individuals had a short work week, I worked and didn't get to luxury of enjoy the Labor Day sunshine. But just cause I wasn't relaxing didn't mean I couldn't have good food. I decided to try another Pinterest recipe: Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers.

Now to add fuel to the fire. Not only was I working on Labor Day but I also had a cold. Yeah, that was fun. Well my cold affected my taste so it was hold to determine just how tasty it was. But after eating some leftovers a few days later I determined this dish is a definite must for my recipe arsenal.

Ingredients

1 medium onion, diced

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

6 oz. fresh baby spinach

3 carrots, grated (1 1/2 cups)

3 or 4 large bell peppers

3/4 cup uncooked quinoa

2 cans (15 oz) diced tomatoes, drained, liquid reserved

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 Tbsp cumin

1 1/2 cups shredded Mexican or pepper jack cheese

Directions

Rinse and cook quinoa according to directions. Meanwhile, prepare veggies.

In a very large skillet, saute onion for 5 minutes over medium heat.

Add cumin and garlic, saute 1 minute.

Stir in spinach, drained tomatoes (pour tomato liquid into bottom of 9x13 baking dish). Cook 5 minutes.

Stir in black beans, cooked quinoa, carrots. Heat for a few minutes.

Stir in 1 cup cheese. Season with salt/pepper.

Preheat oven to 350.

Cut bell peppers in half lengthwise (remove inner ribs with a spoon). Fill each pepper with heaping amount of quinoa mixture, packing it down, and place in baking dish.

Cover with foil and bake 1 hour.

Uncover, sprinkle peppers with cheese. Bake uncovered 15 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes.

Drizzle with pan juices before serving.

** I did make some adjustments to this recipe.

-added fresh lime juice to my cooked Quinoa. (I used the tri-color blend at Trader Joes)

-I used diced tomatoes that were roasted and had peppers to add some spice.

-added fresh cilantro, roasted corn, and Trader Joe's beef-less ground beef to my filling.

-opted out of the carrots since I did not have any.

**I also realized after stuffing the peppers that I made way to much filling. So during the week I ate the filling just like one would eat chili and topped it within sliced avocado, some shredded cheese, corn chips, and salsa. It's a super tasty alternative and because of the quinoa, very filling.