Quinoa-Stuffed Peppers

April 6, 2017

In case you missed it from our Insta stories, photos, Snapchats, etc., Laura and I are obsessed with the Skinnytaste cookbooks. Like…..it’s borderline unhealthy (ha!) how much we love it. Anytime I use another cookbook, I find myself thinking about Skinnytaste because it’s that good. Laura introduced me a few years back, and now it’s a staple in my kitchen! Bonus – our husbands LOVE these recipes just as much as we do.

I made these Quinoa-stuffed peppers for the first time this week and they were super tasty! I’ve made stuffed peppers in the past, but I have to say that these were by far my favorite. Make sure you have about 1 ½ hours for prepping/cooking time. This one takes a little longer than the normal Skinnytaste recipes, but I assure you, it’s worth it.

QUINOA-STUFFED PEPPERS

By: Skinnytaste

Serves 4 (in my opinion, it will serve 2 hungry people)

Filling Ingredients:

½ cup Quinoa
1 cup Pacific vegetable broth (I use College Inn)
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped (I use minced garlic because it’s all I had)
¾ cup canned crushed tomatoes
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper
3 tablespoons grated Romano cheese
½ cup chopped baby spinach
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil (I used dry basil because it’s all I had – about 1 teaspoon)
¼ cup shredded whole-milk mozzarella cheese

Peppers:

2 large red bell peppers
4 tablespoons canned crushed tomatoes
2 teaspoons grated Romano cheese
⅓ cup shredded whole-milk mozzarella cheese
⅓ cup Pacific vegetable broth

DIRECTIONS

For the Filling:

Rinse the quinoa under running water for about 2 minutes (to be honest, I skipped this part). Put the quinoa in a medium saucepan, add the vegetable broth, and bring to a rolling boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook until the liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Heat a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the oil and garlic and cook, stirring, until golden, about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, salt, and black pepper to taste, and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes to develop the flavors. Remove the pan from the heat, add the cooked quinoa, Romano, spinach, basil, and mozzarella.

For the peppers:

Halve the peppers lengthwise and remove the core, seeds, and stem. Place the peppers cut side up in a baking dish.

Fill each pepper with ½ cup of the filling. Top each with 1 tablespoon crushed tomatoes, ½ teaspoon Romano, and 1 tablespoon mozzarella (or…you can just eyeball it). Pour the broth into the bottom of the dish. Cover tightly with foil.