Meatless Monday: Fiesta Stuffed Peppers
By Stacy Kennedy, MPH, RD, CSO, LDN; Reboot Nutritionist
Brighten up your Meatless Monday with these flavorful and easy to make stuffed peppers. They are packed with plant protein from quinoa and black beans. I used dry beans which I like to soak and cook on weekends to have plenty ready to go for meals the entire week. You can use canned/boxed beans instead but look for BPA free on the label.
BPA (Bisphenol-A) is a chemical found in plastics and many can linings. Excess exposure is being linked to numerous health conditions like cancer, heart disease, reproductive and behavior issues. Exposure, mainly through diet, is on the rise and widespread with 93% of urine samples tested in 2003-2004 showing detectible levels. I find the easiest way to make dry beans is in my slow cooker. I rinse then soak them the night before, drain and rinse, add to slow cooker with spices, garlic and onions, then set to low for the day (8-10 hours). I also used my rice cooker to make the quinoa.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (260 g) black beans (cooked)
- 1 cup (128 g) quinoa(dry)
- 2 cups (500 ml) water
- 4 bell peppers (capsicum)
- 1 head broccoli
- 1 onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- ½ tbsp (7.5 ml) chili powder
- 1 tsp (5 ml) cumin
- ¼ tsp (1 ml) sea salt
- ¼ tsp (1 ml) ground pepper
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) olive or coconut oil
Directions
- Soak beans and prepare as above ahead of time, or rinse from canned.
- Preheat oven to 350 F/177 C.
- Cook quinoa by adding the dry grain to 2 cups of water. Use rice cooker or cook on stove. Simmer for 30 minutes until water is absorbed.
- While quinoa is cooking, wash peppers, broccoli.
- Slice tops off of peppers (capsicum) and chop flesh around stem. Remove seeds and place to the side.
- Chop broccoli, onion and garlic.
- Add olive/coconut oil to sauté pan and heat to medium. Add onion, peppers (capsicum), garlic and spices (chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper).
- Sauté until soft, about 5-8 minutes. About 3-4 minutes in, add broccoli.
- Mix in black beans to sauté veggies.
- Once quinoa is ready, place in the bottom of the pepper then scoop in bean/veggie mix.
- Repeat for each pepper (capsicum).
- Place on baking sheet and bake for about 6-8 minutes until pepper is a bit soft.13.) Serve and enjoy!
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 60 minutes
Servings: 4
Calories: 390
Fat: 8 g
Trans Fat: 1 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sodium: 480 mg
Carbohydrates: 66 g
Fiber: 15 g
Sugars: 9 g
Protein: 18 g