I don’t usually rave too much about my recipes, but honest to goodness, these stuffed peppers were amazing. Srsly.

I was introduced to stuffed peppers in college by my friend and room mate, Adam.  He made some killer stuffed peppers, and ever since I’ve been enamored.  It had been a long time since I’d had them, and it occurred to me recently that they’d be a great way to use some of the uber grassfed beef I picked up recently at Publix.

I’m not a vegetarian (obviously), and maybe that fact makes me a bit of a hypocrite, but I do believe animals have the right to not be mistreated before we put them to death; I’m all about being humane to animals before I eat them.  I’m at a point in my life now where I have a steady enough job where I can afford to buy things like free-range eggs and grass-fed beef, so I try to do so when I can.  Besides the morality issues, grass-fed beef is supposedly be super good for you, or at least better than your standard corn-fed cow.  It’s lower in fat, higher in omega-3s, and, in my opinion, just tastes better.  You can read more about grass-fed beef here or here, if you desire.

But beyond being all healthy with grassfed beef, I also thought this would a prime time to cook with quinoa.  Most of the stuffed pepper recipes I perused used rice, so I thought “Why not quinoa instead?”  My favorite thing about quinoa is the ridiculous amount of protein in it.  When my father and I brought some backpacking with us last month and ate it for dinner we woke up refreshed and without aches the next morning – we attributed it to the ridiculous amount of protein we’d gotten from the quinoa.  /flex

So I took those ingredients and a few more and mushed them up with my hands (best part of ground beef, amirite?) and with a shrug, threw them with some spices into the oven.  I was not prepared for how good they were going to turn out.

I’m not sure if it was the beef, the quinoa, the spices, or some magical combination of all of them, but they turned out incredibly flavorful.  They were tender, not over-spiced and had just the tiniest of crunch from the quinoa.  I had actually only bought four peppers, so the leftover meat I put in a pan for meatloaf – and it was just as delectable, if a little crumbly.  I’m very excited to have a delicious and nutritious recipe that I’d be excited to come home to any day of the week.

And speaking of spices, you’ll notice I have specified hungarian paprika in the ingredient list.  I haven’t tried it with regular, but I think its sweetness definitely came through in this recipe; I recommend trying it out.

 

Amazing Stuffed Peppers with Quinoa

Makes approximately 6 large stuffed peppers.

Ingredients:

• 6 bell peppers, any color
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 1 cup diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup quinoa
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 1/2 tsp garlic
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp hungarian paprika
• pinch of salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Slice the tops off of the peppers and remove seeds and ribs.
3. Saute the onion and garlic in olive oil until the onions are soft and slightly browned.
4. Meanwhile, cook the quinoa per the package’s instructions.
5. When the onions and quinoa are done, mix them thoroughly with the pepper, paprika, salt, egg, and ground beef (prime time to use your hands!).
6. Fill the peppers fully with the filling.  Bake for 45 minutes.