Easy Cheese Stuffed Peppers with quinoa, black beans, cheddar, green onions and cumin.
BE PICTURED IN; CHARACTERIZED IN:
One of my favorite recipes from childhood is one for stuffed peppers. (We love them so much, both my mom and dad have their own versions!) I’ve been experimenting with a quinoa-stuffed version and settled on this as a great meatless approach to stuffed peppers.
This is a fairly simple dish, not that many ingredients and flexible in ingredients. You can use poblano chiles in place of peppers for a flavorful version. Or add some cooked Mexican chorizo to the filling for a meatier shot. Would you like to use homemade beans? Here’s how to cook them on the stovetop or in a pressure cooker.
I personally love the vegetal flavor of the green peppers in this dish, but any color will do. You can also stir in some corn or toasted sunflower seeds.
Stuffed Peppers with Cheesy Quinoa and Black Beans
For a non-veg option, cook some Mexican chorizo over medium-high heat until cooked and toss with the filling!
Although I focused on the orange and red peppers in the photos, I personally prefer the green peppers to this dish.
ingredients
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1 Cup uncooked quinoa (white or red or both)
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Salt
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6 big paprikaany color
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1 (15 ounce) can black beansdrained
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4 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese2 cups for filling, 2 cups for garnish
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3 to 4 green onionsfinely sliced
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1 teaspoon ground cumin
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1/2 Cup packed loosly fresh corianderchopped (optional)
method
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Cook quinoa:
In a medium saucepan, combine 1 cup quinoa, 2 cups water, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, cover, bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes.
Remove from the stove and let rest covered for 10 minutes. Spread cooked quinoa in a casserole dish to cool quickly.
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Steam peppers:
Cut the top 1/2 to 1 inch off the pepper and remove the core and seeds inside. (If you like, you can finely chop the bits of good pepper you removed and add them to the filling, otherwise save for another use.)
Fill a large saucepan with an inch of water. Place a steamer rack in the pot and place the pepper skins, cut side up, on the steamer rack. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer until the peppers soften, 5 to 10 minutes.
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make filling:
In a large bowl, combine the cooked quinoa, drained black beans, 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, most of the scallions (saving some for sprinkling), cumin, and coriander, if using.
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Fill peppers:
with the filling you prepared. They should have plenty of stuffing, you can grab it and heap the stuffing into the peppers. Add 1/4 cup of water to the base of the peppers.
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Bake:
Cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 350°F for 35 minutes. Then remove from the oven, cover, top with the remaining 2 cups of cheese and return to the oven to cook, uncovered, until the cheese has melted, about 5 to 10 minutes.
Sprinkle with the remaining finely chopped spring onions to serve.
| nutritional information (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 488 | calories |
| 27g | Fat |
| 36g | carbohydrates |
| 26g | protein |
