Festive Stuffed Peppers
Festive stuffed pepper recipe from Jazzy Vegetarian host, Laura Theodore. Makes 4 servings. From Laura: My mom often served stuffed peppers for supper when I was a little girl and I always looked forward to those meals. This vegan version of mom’s specialty highlights quinoa, pecans, spinach, and other nutritious ingredients to create a tasty entrée that’s perfect to serve for a casual supper or celebratory dinner.
From Jazzy Vegetarian
Recipe Ingredients
- - 4 small, sweet bell or green bell peppers, any combination of colors
- - 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- - ¾ teaspoon salt, divided
- - Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- - 2 cups cooked tricolor or white quinoa thoroughly cooled or chilled
- - 1 cup (firmly packed) chopped baby spinach
- - ½ cup sliced grape or cherry tomatoes
- - ½ cup diced pecans
- - ¼ cup minced red onion
- - 1 ½ teaspoons Italian seasoning blend
- - ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
Recipe Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a medium-sized casserole dish with unbleached parchment paper making certain that the dish will hold all the peppers snugly so they remain upright during baking.
- Slice off the top ⅛ to ¼-inch from each pepper. Seed the peppers. Brush 1 teaspoon of the oil over the outside and inside cavity of each pepper. Sprinkle about ⅛ teaspoon salt and a generous amount of black pepper, to taste, inside the cavity of each pepper.
- Put the cooked quinoa, baby spinach, grape tomatoes, pecans, onion, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and ¼ teaspoon salt into a large bowl and stir until well combined. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and stir to combine.
- Spoon one-fourth of the quinoa mixture into each pepper, pressing it firmly into the pepper cavity and mounding it above the top. Arrange the peppers upright in the casserole. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Increase the oven temperature to 400°F.
- Continue to bake (covered) for 15 minutes. Uncover the peppers and bake for 15 to 25 minutes more, or until the top of the stuffing is golden and the peppers are tender. Let cool for 10 minutes and serve.