Meal #17 ~ Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers

So my posts have definitely slowed down over the past few weeks. I have a few reasons: we had family visiting, I'm repeating a lot of older recipes, and some of the recipes just aren't blog worthy. I'm also getting a little more tired at the end of the day and not really feeling like making anything too exciting. Hello 3rd trimester!!

I am pretty excited about this recipe. It turned out really good and it isn't overly difficult. It, of course, features my new favorite food quinoa!:)

Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers

Ingredients:
2 T olive oil
1 med onion, finely chopped
2 ribs celery, finely chopped
1/2 of a poblano pepper, diced
1 - 8 oz package of mushrooms
1 T cumin
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 - 15 oz can diced tomatoes, drained & liquid reserved
1- 15 oz can black beans, drained & rinsed
3/4 c quinoa
1 1/2 c carrots, grated
1 3/4 c water
1 1/2 c pepper jack cheese, grated & divided
4 large red bell peppers, halved lengthwise & ribs removed
Salt & pepper, to taste

I seriously don't know where my brain is some days....well, I do...trying to keep Connor from injuring himself while I'm cooking..Ha Ha. He's in a climbing phase at the moment. I left out a few ingredients in this picture -- one of them being the star of the recipe -- quinoa!! Oops!!

**It would be beneficial to grate the carrots right away before cooking. I didn't and felt rushed!

1. Heat oil in a saucepan over med heat and saute onion, celery, & poblano pepper until tender, about 5 min. Add cumin & garlic & saute another minute. Stir in mushrooms and drained tomatoes (saving the drained liquid). Cook about 5 min or until most of the liquid is evaporated.

2. Stir in quinoa, carrots, and water. Bring to a boil and then cover and simmer over med/low heat for about 20 min until quinoa is tender. Don't forget to rinse your quinoa well before adding.

3. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Add black beans & cheese to the onion mixture. Season with salt and pepper, if desired.

4. Pour liquid from tomatoes in the bottom of a baking dish. Fill each bell pepper half generously with the quinoa mixture and place in the baking dish. Cover with foil and bake for 40 min.

5. Uncover and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake for an additional 15 minutes or until browned.

For dinner we had Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers with a spinach salad! Yumm!!

The verdict: Delish!! We also added a little salsa on top! I will definitely make this again!

Connor ate an entire half himself!! We are SOOO incredibly lucky to have a little guy who eats pretty much whatever we put in front of him. I do realize that this can change at any time! Ha ha.