Ever since I was a child I remember loving stuffed peppers, stuffed cabbage, stuffed everything. With sour cream on top, as far as I’m concerned, you don’t need anything else.
Unfortunately the peppers here in Halifax are not a cheap treat and that’s why I barely get the chance to make some of my favorite foods.
There was a sale at the supermarket the other day and I knew exactly what I’m going to make.
So I prepared myself to work on the stuffed peppers like I would usually, but then I thought it would be nice to change the original recipe consisting of rice stuffing,
I decided to go ‘Superfood’ here and use the red quinoa I had in the pantry. I also decided to go lazy here and not cook but rather bake these! Why lazy? because it’s so much easier to put something in the oven and forget about it.
So I went superfood and lazy, and after these were ready and I (of course) smothered them with sour cream, I went crazy. Crazy in love with this version of stuffed peppers that is.
How come I never tried using quinoa before? where was I? what was I thinking?
So much lighter and flavorful than rice. I love the rice, don’t get me wrong, but it felt refreshing to not have that heavy stuffed feeling after eating lots of rice.
The important things here are patience and a good oven proof pot (or Pyrex) with lid. Not that complicated, is it?
- 4 Cups Cooked Quinoa
- 1 Zucchini - Grated
- 1 Carrot - Grated
- 1 Medium Sweet Potato - Grated
- ½ Onion - Grated
- 3 Tbsp Tomato Paste
- 1 Tbsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tsp Ground Cumin
- ¼ Cup Water
- ¾ Tbsp Salt
- 2 Cans (156ml/ 5.5 oz. each) Tomato Paste
- 3 Cups Hot Water
- ¼-½ cup Chopped Cilantro
- 1 tsp Ground Cumin
- Salt to taste
- 8 Medium Bell Peppers
- In a large mixing bowl combine the stuffing ingredients and mix well together until they form an even mix.
- Cut the caps off the peppers, empty them from their seeds and place standing up with the opening facing up, in a large oven proof pot that has an oven proof lid (or a Pyrex deep pan with lid). Make sure you arrange the peppers as close to each other as possible, this will help them hold each other from falling into the middle of the pot and spilling the stuffing after.
- Prepare the sauce by mixing well all of its ingredients in a large bowl.
- Preheat oven to 350F (180C)
- Divide the stuffing between the 8 peppers and place an even amount in each.
- Add in the prepared sauce, pouring it in between the peppers (into the pot) and about 1-2 Tbsp on top of each stuffed pepper.
- Cover the pot with its lid and place in the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes.
- Serve with sour cream on top, grated cheese or just the peppers’ sauce.
