Growing up my mom used to make stuffed peppers. She used ground meat, rice, tomato sauce or soup and a few other simple flavours. It was quite good and I always looked forward to it.
Fast forward to the present. I am married to a man who does not like peppers. Lord give me strength. Fortunately the kids do like them raw. Well really they prefer most of their vegetables raw. But it does make cooking challenging at times since I have to miss out on adding the peppers to stews, soups, chili’s, etc. This is why I try to introduce my kids to a variety of foods constantly so they are more open to foods as they get older and not as fussy as my husband.
I’ve made a quinoa stuffed pepper before, but like so many other dishes I make, I’ve never documented it. Now that I’m doing a cleanse and wanting to keep better track of the recipes I use on this cleanse, I am adding it to the blog.
Things to note: I added in some leftover roasted chicken….you can leave the chicken out and keep it strictly vegetarian if you prefer. This recipe makes enough for one person, so if you are cooking for more than one, double it. I like my peppers on the crispier side vs softened when stuffed, so if you like a softer stuffed pepper, bake it for an additional 5 minutes or so. If you love heat, add more chopped chili pepper. The quinoa mixture could also be eaten as a salad. If you are not doing a D-Tox that requires no dairy, a small scoop of shredded cheese mixed in is equally delicious or even sprinkled on top.
Hope you love it as much as I do!
Ingredients
- 1 whole pepper
- 3/4 cup quinoa precooked & cooled
- 1 cup spinach chopped thin
- 1/3 cup cooked chicken diced
- 1 green onion chopped
- 1 tbsp red chili diced
- 1/4 tsp oregano
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 7-8 whole almonds rough chopped
- salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400.
- Cut pepper in half and carefully remove seeds and membrane. Set aside.
- In a bowl add your quinoa, spinach, chicken, green onion and red chili.
- In a second bowl or measuring cup whisk together olive oil, oregano, chili powder, lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Pour over quinoa, toss in almonds and stir to combine.
- Carefully spoon quinoa mixture into each pepper half. There should be enough to fill each one to just slightly heaping with a few bites leftover for the cook.
- Place in baking dish and in oven. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Enjoy.
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