Spiced Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

Easy, simple, fast flavor-filled recipe I love to batch cook on weekends.  Perfect for when we want a quick, weeknight dinner.

These stuffed peppers are gluten-free and dairy-free although a bit of cheese is optional.  They’re also packed with potent nutrients like fiber, Vitamin C and protein.

Prep Time:  15 minutes

Cook Time:  15 minutes

Total Time:  30 minutes

Yield:  6 servings

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa, dried

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp dried turmeric

1 tsp ground black pepper

1/4 tsp sea salt

2 cups water

2 red bell peppers

2 green bell peppers

2 orange bell peppers

2 yellow bell peppers

3 poblano peppers

1 jalapeño pepper

1 cayenne pepper (or 1/4 tsp dried)

16 oz/2 cups baby bella mushroooms

2 onions

4 cloves garlic

2 Tbsp olive oil

Directions:

1.  Heat olive oil over medium heat on stove.
2. Smash garlic to remove peel, chop.
3. Remove onion peel and chop.
4. Wash mushrooms, peppers and chop, reserving half of the peppers whole for stuffing.
5. Add garlic, onions, mushrooms and chopped peppers to pot.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste.
7. Let cook stirring occasionally for about 6-8 minutes.
8. In the meantime, rinse dry quinoa and add to rice cooker.
9. Add spices to rinsed quinoa.
10. Add water to rice cooker then cook.
11. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
12. Once quinoa is ready, add to pot with vegetables.
13. Mix vegetables and quinoa together.
14. Slice top off the remaining whole peppers, removing seeds.
15. Stuff with quinoa veggie mixture and place onto parchment paper lined baking sheet.
16. Bake for about 15-20 minutes, adding 1 oz cheese to each pepper before baking as desired.
17. Remove from oven, let cool and enjoy