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Instagram: Quinoa Stuffed Peppers with Melted Pepper-Jack
In preparation for Hurricane Sandy last week, I made these Quinoa Stuffed Peppers with Melted Pepper-Jack, inspired from Vegetarian Times. The storm left us with limited power, so four nights of pre-made dinners that tasted better the longer they melded in the fridge (they also freeze beautifully) was just what the doctor ordered. Popped 'em in the toaster oven for 30 minutes each night and dinner was easy as that!
Quinoa Stuffed Peppers with Melted Pepper-Jack is a wonderful southwestern take on the classic, packed with southwestern spices and black beans, oozing with melted, dairy-free Pepper-Jack cheese (seriously, ya gotta try dairy free cheese- it melts, stretches and combines beautifully as a substitute within well constructed recipes.) Absolutely delicious. And, if you're more in the mood for Italian one night, just swap out the cumin for oregano & basil, throw in cannellini beans instead of black beans and use dairy free mozzarella instead of pepper-jack. Voila! Instant Italian Stuffed Pepper makeover:-)
Please enjoy!
Quinoa Stuffed Peppers with Melted Pepper-Jack
(Serves 8)
Ingredients:
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 1 Tbs. olive oil
- 2 stalks celery, finely chopped
- 1 Tbs. ground cumin
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 10-oz. pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
- 2 15-oz. cans diced tomatoes, drained, liquid reserved (I used a jar of Amy's marinara cause I didn't have any diced tomatoes!)
- 1 15-oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained (I used a mix of lentils and black beans as it was what I had on hand)
- ¾ cup quinoa (I used a mix of quinoa & millet)
- 3 large carrots, grated
- 1½ cups grated dairy-free pepper Jack cheese, divided
- 4 large red bell peppers, halved lengthwise, seeds/ribs removed
1. Heat oil and 1 Tbsp water in saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and celery, and cook 5 minutes, or until soft. Add cumin and garlic, and sauté 1 minute. Stir in spinach and drained tomatoes. Cook 5 minutes, or until most of liquid has evaporated.
2. Stir in black beans, quinoa, carrots, and 2 cups water. Cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 20 minutes, or until quinoa is tender. Stir in 1 cup cheese. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Preheat oven to 350°F. Pour liquid from tomatoes in bottom of baking dish.
4. Fill each bell pepper half with heaping ¾-cup quinoa mixture, and place in baking dish. Cover with foil, and bake 1 hour. Uncover, and divide remaining cheese among peppers. Bake 15 minutes more, or until tops of stuffed peppers are browned. Let stand 5 minutes. Transfer stuffed peppers to serving plates, and drizzle with pan juices before serving.
Note** This dish freezes very well. Quinoa provides a serving of protein along with a punch of whole grain goodness.
(Recipe adapted from Vegetarian Times)
Instagram: Roasted Quinoa Stuffed Pepper with Melted Pepper-Jack
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You may also enjoy: Italian Affogatos!
What a lovely meal and you made this ahead of time? Sign me up. They look so good.
Posted by: Maureen | Orgasmic Chef | Sunday, November 11, 2012 at 09:04 AM
Thank you Maureen! Let me know if you make them. They're so comforting and nourishing for cold fall & winter days. Lovely to hear from you:-) Xo's ~Juliane
Posted by: juliane | Monday, November 26, 2012 at 09:04 PM
We made the Mexican-inspired version of this, and my decidedly non-vegetarian husband loved it! He loved it even more as his lunch the next day. The frozen leftovers are awaiting use as another delicious meal. Thank you!
Posted by: Pam | Thursday, December 20, 2012 at 04:11 PM
That's great to hear Pam! I have another freezable recipe I'll be posting next, that I know you'll love...Stuffed Grape Leave Casserole! All the same flavors, none of the rolling- and you can sub collard greens for the grape leaves (my preference- who'da thunk!). Thank you for your wonderful comment! I really appreciate it. xoxo ~JUliane
Posted by: juliane | Thursday, January 17, 2013 at 03:21 PM
sorry. just a bit confused. Quinoa is a grain and starch; cheese is protein. Isn't this bad food combining to have them in same recipe? Thanks for clarification . . .(same query with a few of the other recipes I see on your site.
Posted by: Joy Roxborough | Sunday, October 26, 2014 at 11:13 AM
Hi Joy,
Thank you for your excellent question!
A few things: Readers who have been with me for the long haul have watched my journey as I've transitioned from a whole foods non-vegetarian diet (organic yet still containing meat, wheat, dairy, sugar etc) into a vegetarian diet, then dropping sugar, wheat, dairy, then becoming nutritarian, vegan and now primarily raw vegan. As a result, StyleNectar has something for everyone which is great, since we're each at different points on our health journey, have unique nutritional needs and goals etc.
As it turns out, I posted this recipe prior to implementing any sort of proper food combining into my diet. However, it does happen that quinoa isn't actually a grain at all, it's a fruit seed which contains 15 grams of carbohydrate per half-cup in addition to a powerful protein punch w/ all the essential amino acids your body needs to make proteins. This recipe combines it with a vegan cheese. The addition of the cumin aids the digestibility of the dish.
Another factor to mention is depending on one's "gastric fire", what is a problem food combination for one person, isn't necessarily an issue for another. So there is definitely a continuum; with fresh pressed single ingredient juices & mono-meals (mono-meals being a super easy to digest meal consisting of solely grapes or just oranges for ex.) being on one end, and a steak dinner with potatoes, fresh fruit and a high fat/sugar/cream filled dessert nightmare food combo at the other. Basically the more ingredients the harder to digest- and then all the combining rules adds to this too.
Once in a while I'll make a raw vegan dessert, for example, which contains dried fruit and soaked and sprouted nuts- So one might ask, "how can you combine fruit and nuts since fruit should always be consumed alone?" However, because the nuts are sprouted and live and the fruit is dried (which combines differently than fresh fruit) this is fairly good combo. The fact that everything is raw & sprouted helps a lot too. That said, it's still going to be harder to digest than just a handful of dried fruit on its own. So, there are a lot of factors from the number of ingredients, whether they're sprouted & raw and portion size too, that play into this.
We all have to figure out where we fall and what works for us individually within the continuum. And, our needs may and probably will change multiple times throughout our lives so we never want to stop paying attention to our body's signals, thinking we've figured it all out. Personally, I find I feel best following a fairly clean diet overall, with minor food combining exceptions here and there not being a huge problem. The longer I've lead this very clean lifestyle, the stronger my gastric fire has gotten (as my gut has become very healthy). Additionally, as mentioned, I've found I can have more leeway if I keep my portions very small of anything not perfectly combined and this too makes a huge difference.
I hope this answers your question! I really appreciate & understand why you'd pose it. Let me know if you have any other questions and I'll be happy to address them.
Hope you have a beautiful week!
Much Love,
Juliane
Posted by: Juliane | Sunday, October 26, 2014 at 05:13 PM