stuffed peppers

Happy 2013!

I hope all of you had an amazing time celebrating last night and aren't feeling too terrible today. :) I had a very low key night, so I feel fantastic! We went out last night and had a delicious dinner, came home and watched a movie, shared a little new year smooch at midnight, and went to bed. It was perfect. :)

I would also like to add that today is my little sisters 23rd birthday! 

Happy birthday, Sara! I love you!!

Today I have for you a delicious and oh-so-easy dinner recipe. Joel and I are challenging ourselves to a 3 month vegan diet (this excludes our trip to New York, Joel wants pizza and I want Sprinkles cupcakes - sorry to all the vegans I just offended, I never claimed to be perfect). 

Anyway, even if you aren't a passenger on the vegan bandwagon you'll love this dish! 

I pinky promise. 

Quinoa and Black Bean Stuffed Peppers

::Ingredients::

-4 bell peppers (any color), sliced in half stem-to-tip, seeds removed

-1c quinoa, uncooked

-1/2 medium onion, diced

-1 (15oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed

-1 roma tomato, seeded and diced

-1 (4oz) can diced green chiles (don’t drain)

-¼ cup cilantro, minced

-1/4 tsp salt

-1/2 tsp cumin 

-1/4 tsp pepper

-1 (28oz) can of enchilada sauce (or make your own - it's easy!)

::Directions::

-Add quinoa and onion to a large saucepan with 2 cups of water and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil 5 minutes, cover, turn off heat and let steam 15 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

 -In the meantime, microwave pepper halves 2-3 minutes to soften slightly. (Prepared this way, the peppers should come out crisp-tender. If you want them crisper, you can omit this step.)

-Pour quinoa/onion mixture into a mixing bowl. Stir in black beans, tomato, green chiles and their juices, cilantro, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, and 1/2 tsp cumin. If the mixture seems to dry, drizzle in a bit of olive oil (I didn’t need any).

-Pour enchilada sauce into a 9×13″ baking dish. Divide filling among peppers. Nestle stuffed peppers into the enchilada sauce. 

-Cover the pan with foil and bake at 375 degrees 25-30 minutes. Remove foil and cook about 5 minutes longer. Serve peppers drizzled with enchilada sauce.

*Garnish with olives, avocado slices, fresh jalapeno, etc.

*Feel free to add cheese to this recipe if you aren't worried about it being vegan. Just sprinkle a cup of your favorite cheese over the peppers before you put them in the oven!