Don’t get me wrong, I love stuffed foods. You know creamy stuffed mushrooms and yes even stuffed peppers.
But stuffed peppers seem like a lot of work some days.
To create and cook all of the filling, just to stuff it inside a juicy bell pepper only to bake it again.
Yea, today I wasn’t feeling that, but I was still in the mood for a delicious stuffed pepper. And that’s when I had the lightbulb moment. Chop it all up and cook it on the stove top. You save a lot of time and dishes and yet still achieve all of the great flavors of a stuffed pepper in this beautiful deconstructed skillet stuffed peppers dish.
It really is a beautiful thing.
The fluffy quinoa mixed with chopped fresh tomatoes, corn cut from the cob, green chiles all intermixed with the sliced green bell peppers and plenty of caramelized onion. Maybe we should do a new take on the name, think fiesta deconstructed stuff peppers. Another selling point is, it is easier to eat.
Say good-bye to the mucho embarrassing days of trying to properly eat a stuffed pepper. I mean how do you even go about doing that? Do you eat all of the insides and finish with the pepper? Or do you chop it all up and eat it like, oh this fantastic rendition of a chopped up stuff pepper?
I don’t know but I think your guess is as good as mine. Messy but yet delicious. Probably the only proper way to eat a fiesta stuffed pepper or deconstructed stuffed pepper is with a sombrero as you twirl around in bliss that this skillet dish happened. Can you picture it?
Okay, bad picture. Forget I even mentioned the sombrero and lets just get back to this goodness.
One bite at a time, a slice of deliciousness hits your mouth. It’s so beautiful, so delicious, so mouth-watering, so….
DROOL.
But what is even better about this recipe is the swap from rice to quinoa for an additional nutritional boost. Food doesn’t get much better that tastes this good with this many nutritional properties to it. Including the fact that this dish is loaded with vegetables.
Besides for the ample amounts of veg, quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) offers a big bang for its buck. Quinoa is actually the seed from a plant that is relative of leafy green vegetables like spinach and swiss chard. It is full of healthy protein and fiber and is naturally gluten-free.
Interestingly, quinoa is one of the few vegan sources of protein that is complete, meaning you don’t have to combine it with other foods to achieve the protein benefit. But the key to cooking this delicious fluffy grain like substance is rinsing before cooking. If you skip this step it could wind you up having a bitter aftertaste.
Now that you know my very condensed nutritional status on quinoa, I’ll step off my soap box and let you get your fiesta on. I promise you will love it and eat it for leftovers breakfast, noon and night until its gone. And then you’ll probably make it again because it’s that good.
- 1 lb ground beef (or chicken)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 8 bell peppers, seeded and sliced
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1 can green chilis
- 2 cups tomatoes, chopped
- 1 cup corn, cooked
- 1 cup black beans
- 2 cups quinoa, cooked
- 2 Tbsp cumin
- 1 Tbsp chili powder
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp paprika
- salt & pepper, to taste
- Garnish (optional):
- Cheese
- Cilantro
- Olives
- Chopped tomatoes
- Avocado
- In a skillet over medium heat, brown meat.
- Drain and set aside.
- In same skillet add olive oil and chopped onion and sliced pepper.
- Cook until just starting to become tender.
- Add in minced garlic and stir until fragrant, an additional 1-2 minutes.
- Add to that, green chilis, chopped tomatoes, corn, and black beans. Mix to incorporate and add spices.
- Mix well and stir in quinoa and ground meat.
- Top with cheese if using and continue heating over low until melted (you can also pop it in the oven at 400 degrees or broil until cheese has melted.
- Garnish with avocado, tomatoes, cilantro and/or olives.
- Enjoy!
