These cooler temperatures make me crave something warm and comforting to eat. I’ve been in the mood for a stuffed pepper for quite some time, so I went on the hunt for the perfect recipe.

Snow days can definitely make me a little lazy, but prior to being snowed in, I had my friend come over for dinner. Stuffed peppers are a great entree to serve because they are healthy, filling, and go with any side dish. I wanted to make sure the recipe was vegan, but would be satisfying to any guest.

I used orange peppers for this meal because they are my favorite and the sweetest of the bell peppers. You can feel free to use any that you like as well. I also added in some ground flaxseed due to their amazing health benefits. 

This recipe was adapted from the Minimalist Baker. You can find the original recipe here.

Ingredients:

• 3 Orange Bell Peppers
• 3/4 Cup Dry Quinoa
• 1 1/2 Cups Vegetable Broth
• 3/4 Cup Corn Kernels
• 3/4 Cup Black Beans, Drained and Rinsed
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1 1/2 tsp Cumin
• 1 tsp Chili Powder
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 2 tbsp ground flaxseed
• Grapeseed oil
• Salsa (for topping)
• Avocado (for topping)

Directions:

1. Rinse quinoa and add to saucepan with 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth. Heat on high until boiling, then cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
2. Cut peppers in half lengthwise and scoop out seeds. Rinse peppers and then lightly rub oil with your hands over the outside and inside of each pepper half.
3. Once quinoa is finished cooking, add black beans, corn, onions, salt, garlic powder, chili powder, cumin, and flaxseed and combine.
4. Stuff each pepper half with quinoa mixture.
5. Cover peppers with aluminum foil and cook for 30 minutes at 375F. Then raise temperature to 400F and cook an additional 20 minutes.
6. Serving size is two pepper halves (one whole pepper). Top your pepper with salsa and avocado.

  
Although the serving size is two halves, I had a few side dishes so I saved my other half for today, and it made an amazing lunch! Enjoy!

I’m going back to my agenda for the day which includes reading multiple books, napping, and sipping on hot chocolate.