I don’t know about you but I had way too much to eat this holiday season and have gained a few pounds in the process of it all. I wanted to cook something healthy today so I looked in the fridge and the only vegetables in there were peppers. Since I didn’t feel like going to the grocery store I decided to make healthy stuffed peppers. I filled them with quinoa and wild rice instead of beef and white rice. I saw quinoa at the grocery store before, but never really knew what it really was. I recently started reading the “Healthy Latin Cookbook” and saw quinoa on the “glossary of ingredients”. It’s a grain that was used by the Incas that has more protein than rice, so I went out and bought it with the intention of trying to make something with it. I was pleasantly surprised by the taste. It’s a little bit like nutty rice. The peppers turned out really well, so I thought I should share the recipe.
Recipe:
- 5 large Peppers
- 1 chopped Onion
- 3 cloves of chopped Garlic
- 1 cup of Rice Blend ( I use Rice Select Royal Blend)
- 1 cup of Quinoa
- handful of Pine Nuts
- 3 cups of Water
- all purpose seasoning
- dried Italian herb mix
- Salt to taste
- Black Pepper to taste
- 5 large Peppers
- hot Chicken Broth
- Cheese to sprinkle the peppers with
Sauté the onions on medium until they are soft. Add the garlic and pine nuts and sauté for a minute or so. Add the rice and quinoa and cook for an additional minute stirring the rice so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom. Add water, dried herbs, salt, pepper and the all purpose seasoning. Turn the heat on high until the water boils and then turn down the heat to low and cover the pot. The filling is done when all the water is absorbed. The rice and quinoa should still be a little crispy because they will finish cooking in the oven.
In the mean time preheat the oven to 400F and slice the tops off the peppers and remove all ribs and seeds. Cut a very thin slice from the base to help the peppers stand up.
Take an oven proof dish and place the stuffed peppers in it. Pour the hot chicken broth in the bottom of the baking dish; you want to cover about an 1/2″ – 1″ of the peppers. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 40 min. 5 min before your timer goes off sprinkle cheese on top of the peppers and remove the foil. The cheese should get nice a bubbly before taken out of the oven.
MODERN DAY COOK 