Making stuffed peppers offers a tasty, healthy alternative for dinner.
Bell peppers are one of a summer garden's most colorful features, but they also can be the centerpiece of an easy and healthy meal plan for on-the-go families. Stuffed bell peppers can be as simple or as ornate as you want. You can have a filling anchored by ground beef or pork sausage, but the bell pepper recipe that holds the most health benefits is going all-veggie and avoiding the high fat content of most meats. Choosing that route gives you a filling, main dish with less than 415 calories per serving.
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine water and quinoa in a medium saucepan and bring to a rolling boil. Turn heat down to low-medium and simmer for about 20 minutes until the quinoa is soft.
2. Brown 1 lb. of ground beef or turkey and skip the previous step with water and quinoa if you prefer meat-based stuffed peppers. Substitute the meat for the quinoa during the later step when the quinoa is added to your spice and vegetable mixture.
3. Coat a small baking dish with no-stick spray. Cut the bell peppers in half from top to bottom. Discard seeds and the pepper's ribs but preserve the stem to ensure the pepper doesn't wilt during the baking process. Put the cut peppers into the baking dish with their opened sides facing up.
4. Combine the cubed apple with olive oil, parsley flakes, crushed red pepper, basil, oregano, garlic, lime juice, mint, onions and tomatoes in a medium mixing bowl. Pour the quinoa into the mix and stir and season with salt and pepper.
5. Spoon the mixture into the peppers. Add about 1/4 inch of water into your baking dish to help prevent the peppers from sticking.
6. Put the peppers into the oven on the middle rack and bake for about 20 minutes. Poke the peppers with a fork to determine whether they are tender. Remove from heat when they are and when the quinoa is thoroughly heated.
Tags: baking dish, dish with, about minutes, baking dish with, ground beef, peppers into, stuffed peppers