Enjoy the bounty of summer with these vegetarian gluten-free yummy stuffed peppers.
I love pepper season! Is that even a thing? The garden is loaded with ready-to-be-eaten peppers that have ripened in the sun.
I am all about saving time anywhere that I can so I like to prep meals that can go in the freezer. During pepper season I like using peppers fresh from the garden for any meals that I can make in advance and saved for a later time in the freezer. This is one of my favorite recipes for doing just that.
If you have little ones that don’t like the taste of peppers, most kids don’t, here is a quick and easy dinner hack for you that my mom use to do for me. Put a child's portion size amount of the filling in a small ramekin and bake for 15 minutes or until warm. Add cheese on top and bake for 5 more minutes or until the cheese has melted, if your child likes cheese. This is a great way to have adults and kids eating ALMOST the same thing and not needing to create a different meal for the kids.
Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients:
4 large bell peppers
1 15 oz can of black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup cilantro
3 cloves of garlic, diced
1/2 cup onion
3/4 cup salsa
2 cups quinoa, cooked
3/4 cup fresh or frozen corn, off the cob
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 cups of shredded Mexican style blend or shredded cheddar cheese
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Wash and cut the tops off the peppers. Remove all seeds. Spray a 9x9 baking dish with olive oil or nonstick cooking spray and place peppers in the dish. Set to the side.
3. Sauté onion in the olive oil till almost translucent then add minced garlic. Continue cooking for about 3 minutes, till garlic is tender. Be careful not to burn the garlic.
4. While onions are saluting, mix black beans, cilantro, salsa, quinoa, corn, 1 cup of the cheese, chili powder, and salt in a bowl.
The cheese is a really good addition to the stuffed peppers, but it also adds calories and cholesterol. If you are trying to limit either of those, then you might want to leave this out. They are still very yummy.
5. When onions and garlic are cooked, add to the black bean mixture. Stir to combine all ingredients. Then, divide the mixture between the 4, already prepared peppers. Stuff peppers with filling mixture. Be sure to push the mixture down into the pepper.
6. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
7. Remove from the oven and remove the foil, add cheese to the top of each pepper, then return to the oven uncovered and bake for another 10 minutes until the cheese has melted. If you want to keep this vegan then just skip the cheese or add vegan cheese.
8. When done, remove from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes then serve. You could serve these with a garden salad and some crusty bread. Doesn’t that sound good?
These stuffed peppers freeze very well. You don’t need to bake these before freezing. It’s great to make these up while peppers are in season and have them ready to pull out of the freezer for those days you will need a quick meal.
To freeze, place stuffed peppers in a freezer-safe container or freezer bags. I like to store mine in a FoodSaver bag that I can remove the air from before placing them in the freezer. Store in the freezer for up to 3 months. To use, take out of the freezer and let defrost in the fridge for at least 12 hours. This is a convenient freezer meal because each portion is contained in the pepper. When ready to use, bake them per the directions above.
Hope you enjoy this recipe. Let me know what you think.
Comments