Take your meatless meal game to new heights with this vegetarian stuffed pepper recipe. Made with quinoa, black beans, tomatoes, cumin, lime, and baby spinach, this healthy dish is packed with fresh Mexican flavors and ready in 30 minutes.
Last week I went on a shopping spree. No, I didn’t find myself loading up on Louboutin’s or going long on a Chloe handbag. Instead, I purchased six bell peppers of varying shapes, colors and sizes from Whole Foods.
Admittedly, this is not the first time I’ve found myself with a glut of one specific veggie. My enthusiasm for fresh produce knows no bounds and sometimes I go overboard. Some people do drugs or alcohol or cigarettes. I do bell peppers.
Nevertheless, with 6 beautiful bell peppers to burn, I found myself experimenting with all sorts of interesting dishes. This stuffed pepper dish is a vegetarian riff on a recipe I developed way back when for the blog. It’s a delicious intersection of meatless and hearty, packed with nutrition, and ready in 30 minutes. This will definitely be on our dinner table again soon.
Fun fact:
A medium red bell pepper contains 253% of the daily Vitamin C recommendation. Move over oranges–bell peppers beat you by a mile.
Vegetarian Quinoa and Black Bean-Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
- 2 red/yellow/orange bell peppers
- 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 clove garlic
- ¼ red onion
- 1 cup cooked quinoa
- ½ cup canned diced tomatoes
- ½ can black beans (7 oz/ 223g), rinsed and drained
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tsp cumin
- ½ lime
- 1 cup baby spinach
- ¼ cup sharp cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400℉ (200℃).
- Crush the garlic, and finely dice the onion. Set aside.
- Cut the peppers in half. Remove the seeds and white membranes.
- Spray a baking tray with baking spray (or a drizzle of olive oil).
- Lay the peppers skin-side-down on the baking tray. Bake the peppers for 15-20 minutes, until they are just beginning to brown around the edges. (Note: leave the oven on 400℉/200℃ when you remove the peppers. We will return to it later).
- Shred the baby spinach and set aside.
- Add the olive oil, onion and garlic to a large non-stick frying pan. Place the pan on the stove, and turn the stove to medium heat. Stir fry until the onion is soft and translucent.
- Add the cooked quinoa, diced tomato, black beans, salt, and cumin to the pan.
- Juice the lime over the pan.
- Stir-fry the ingredients for a couple of minutes, then add the shredded spinach to the pan. Continue to cook until the spinach is wilted.
- Return to the cooked peppers. Fill the peppers with the quinoa and black bean mixture.
- Sprinkle a tablespoon of cheddar cheese over pepper half. Return the peppers to the baking tray, and cook for another 5 minutes until the cheese begins to bubble.
- Remove the baking tray from the oven, and serve warm.