Quinoa and Ground Beef Stuffed Peppers

There's this quinoa again sneaking it's way into more of my recipes.....So the other day when I made quinoa for the first time, I made THE ENTIRE BOX.  I don't really know why, but it seemed like good idea at the time.  Well it was, because I've been finding many delicious uses for it. 

After enjoying a few Bud Light Limes on the Patio with my roommate this evening, I became hungry.  So I look in the fridge at the MANY leftovers that have accumulated over the past few days of cooking and blogging and I decide I want NONE OF IT.  Been there, done that, I want something new....

So I look over at a bowl on the kitchen counter full of some sweet peppers I bought the other day and I have the urge to make more stuffed peppers. 

This recipe re-uses two of my lunch ingredients, more quinoa and some more of that sliced Finlandia Swiss.  But like I said earlier I needed to use up all that quinoa!  And as for the Swiss, well I'm just a sucker for Swiss cheese ;)

They were REALLLLLLLLLLLY good, So please try this one :)

You will need:

6-8 sweet peppers (I had enough filling for about 7 peppers, some of the yellow & oranges run smaller than the reds, so try an assortment of peppers that are all about the same size)
2 Cups cooked quinoa
1 pound of ground beef
6 cloves of garlic- Minced
1 yellow onion- Diced
1/2 small red onion- Diced
1 to 2 cups of sweet peppers-Diced (You will get these from the tops that you cut off the sweet peppers, as to not waste any usable/cook-able peice of food, and to add more flavor, u'll wanna dice up these tops and throw them into the the stuffing mix)
4 Thick Slices (or 6-8 thin slices) of Swiss cheese- Diced
1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon of onion powder
5 Tablespoons of olive oil
2 Cups of stock (vegetable, chicken or beef, whatever u have on hand)
Salt & Pepper


And try this spicy mixture to top them:

4 Tablespoons of Ketchup
1 Tablespoon of sriracha hot sauce (try this stuff it's awesome! if you don't have it or don't want to buy it any hot sauce will do, Cholula or Tabasco.  And also adjust this amount if you prefer it more or less spicy)
1 teaspoon of Worcestershire Sauce


now for the HOW TO:

Prepare the peppers:
take the tops off the peppers with a serrated knife and cut about a quarter inch from the top.  Then flip the peppers over and CAREFULLY take a sliver off the bottom, so that the peppers will stand on their own in the pan.  Reserve the tops and bottoms to dice for the stuffing.  Remove all ribs and seeds and put to the side while you prepare the stuffing.


Prepare the stuffing:
In a saute pan, on medium-high heat, add two tablespoons of olive oil.  When olive oil is heated add the onions, and you wanna hear them sizzle!, you want them almost to caramelize. After about 3-5 minutes of cooking and sizzling and stirring, u can lower the heat to medium, add the garlic, and nice a big pinch of salt.  Cook for a few minutes and then add the diced sweet peppers and continue to cook, stirring every couple of minutes. When all the vegetables have softened, then you can add the cooked quinoa, stir until heated through, remove from pan and set aside.

In the same pan, add the ground beef, onion and garlic powder, a nice pinch of salt and 6-8 grinds of fresh cracked pepper.   When beef is browned then add the onion, garlic, pepper, and quinoa mixture back to the pan.  Stir and combine until reheated through and flavors mix.

Remove from heat, set aside and let cool.  You can also pre-heat the oven at this time to 375 degrees.

Prepare the topping:
In a small/medium bowl add ketchup, Worcestershire, and hot sauce and whisk to combine




*Before stuffing the peppers, take the cooled mixture and add the diced Swiss cheese making sure it becomes evenly distributed throughout the stuffing and at this time taste again for seasoning (if needed add more s&p)


Now you can assemble the peppers :)

Take a large spoon and fill each pepper, don't pack them too tightly or they might cause the peppers to tear while cooking but add enough so that they are filled to the top.

Add a half a tablespoonful of olive oil to each filled pepper so that they don't dry out while cooking.

Then cover each pepper with the ketchup mixture (this topping is similar to what you would top a savory meatloaf with but just with some kick)

When peppers are filled and topped you can assemble them in a roasting or casserole pan.  When peppers are assembled in the pan, you can add the stock to the bottom of the pan, this will help the peppers steam while in the oven. 

Cover the pan with aluminum foil and pop 'em in the oven :)
Set the timer for 1 hour and when the time gets to 30 minutes take the foil off and continue to bake uncovered and raise the temperature to 415 degrees. 


You will know peppers are done when they are fork tender, but you still want them to have a little firmness to them, well at least I do, I don't like a soggy pepper, LOL.


These peppers are very filling and a great option for lunch, especially if your trying to covert from ordering out at work.  They're healthy and pretty much a meal in themselves, and they travels well in Tupperware.

Try this recipe, eat & enjoy! ;)