Southwestern Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

Okay, first and foremost, lets clear up the pronunciation confusion. Quinoa is pronounced keen-wah. I hear people struggle with the pronunciation all of the time, so there you go. You're welcome.

Also, in case you are unfamiliar with quinoa, check out this Food Network article all about quinoa here. As Katie Boyle explains, quinoa is a super food. Quinoa is often compared to rice, but it has so many more benefits than even brown rice. Although quinoa is higher in carbs than brown rice, it is significantly higher in protein, potassium, fiber, and calcium. One cup of quinoa versus one cup of brown rice has 24 grams of protein versus 5 grams, 80 mg of calcium versus 20 mg, 12 grams of fiber versus 3.5 grams, and 957 mg of potassium versus 84 mg. I hadn't heard of quinoa until last semester, so I decided to do a little bit of research of my own. Here is a great article about this history and benefits of quinoa.

I have mentioned before how delicious "stuffed"things are. I have also mentioned Stuffed Peppers so I figured I would let you all in on another delicious stuffed recipe with Southwestern Quinoa Stuffed Peppers. This recipe is not only delicious, it is also healthy. It's also completely vegan...although I am sure that it would be delicious with some pepper jack cheese on top :) If you do not like bell peppers, you can by all means eat the quinoa mixture by itself. I make this for lunch sometimes and eat it that way. It is also delicious hot or cold right out of the fridge. One more warning; quinoa can be a little bit pricey. Just be aware that the bag that it comes in is a lot bigger than it looks and quinoa expands even more than rice. A little bit goes a long way, especially in this recipe with all of the corn and black beans.

This recipe is inspired by Damn Delicious Blog but, as I tend to do, I tweaked it a little bit. I tend to like quite a bit of spices and seasonings in my food, and I did not think that this recipe called for quite enough. Also, her recipe calls for feta and pepper jack cheese, which I chose to leave out. I changed a few other things and if you want to compare the two recipes, here is hers--->Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers. Here is my recipe.



Southwestern Quinoa Stuffed Peppers
3 bell peppers--color does not matter. Red bell peppers look nice, but green are cheaper and taste pretty much the same.
1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa
3/4 cup black beans
3/4 cup corn
1 small can Rotel tomatoes (diced tomatoes and green chilis)
3 tablespoons fresh cilantro (optional)
1 tsp chili powder
1tsp cumin
1tsp garlic powder
1tsp onion powder
*These are just guesses for the amount of spices I use. Start with this amount and then taste it. Obviously, add more to taste.

Method
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine all of the ingredients into a large bowl and mix well. Wash the peppers and cut the very top off of each of them. Spoon the mixture into each pepper. Place the peppers on a pan in the oven for 30 minutes.

And that's it. This might be the easiest thing to make ever. And it's so tasty. And pretty too.

As I said, it would be awesome with some pepper jack cheese all melted on top but I discovered this during my clean eating spree and cheese is totally not clean. Salsa is though and that too would be great on top. Enjoy!