Ingredients
- 8 large bell peppers (yellow, orange, red)
- 1 ½ cup quinoa, rinsed
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 jalapeño, seeded, diced
- 2 can (14.5 oz) black beans, drained, rinsed
- 1 can (14.5) corn, drained, rinsed
- 3 cup vegetable broth
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2.5 teaspoon minced garlic
- 2 teaspoon chili powder
- ½-1 teaspoon cayenne*
- 2 teaspoon cumin
- 2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup tomato paste
- 1 lime
- 2 tablespoon fresh cilantro
- 2 cup shredded cheese
Toppings (optional)**
- avocado
- cholula/tapatio
- salsa
- sour cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut off top of bell peppers and remove the inside seeds. Fill a 9x13 glass pan with about 1 inch of water, and place bell peppers top down in the pan. Then put in the oven for about 25 minutes, until the bell peppers start to wrinkle.
- In a large sauce pan, heat olive oil on medium heat. Add diced onion and jalapeno and cook for 2-3 minutes, mixing occasionally. Add garlic, chili powder, cayenne, cumin, smoked paprika, salt, and tomato paste and mix well until onions and jalapeno are well coated. Rinse quinoa in a strainer and add to the sauce pan, mix until well coated in spices. Saute for 1-2 minutes.
- Add vegetable broth to the sauce pan, mix well, turn heat to high and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add black beans and mix well. Cover the pan and allow to simmer on lowest heat setting for about 20 minutes, or until quinoa has absorbed all of the liquid.
- Once the bell peppers are done in the oven, take them out but leave the oven on. Remove water from the glass pan and flip the bell peppers so that they are standing right side up.
- Once the quinoa mixture is done cooking, mix in the juice from 1 lime and mix well. Then mix in corn, cilantro, and 1 ½ cups of cheese. Stir on medium heat until cheese is melted.
- Fill bell peppers with quinoa mixture. Top the bell peppers with remaining ½ cup of cheese. Put bell peppers back into the oven for 10-15 minutes until cheese is melted. Top with your favorite topping--avocado, salsa, sour cream, hot sauce, etc. Enjoy!
Notes
*I typically use 1 teaspoon of cayenne and don't think it's too spicy, but if you're sensitive to spice, use ½ tsp.
**Honestly, these bell peppers may not need toppings because they have so much flavor, but that's up to you!