These stuffed peppers are a completely plant-based entrée that pack tons of delicious flavor! They take less than 1 hour to prepare and are easy to make ahead of time.

There’s something so satisfying about eating your food out of other food – bread bowls, papaya boats, and these stuffed peppers! This is such a fun and pretty way to serve an otherwise brown and lackluster looking (but delicious) quinoa enchilada salad!

 Grain salads are one of my go-to meal prep recipe suggestions. They require minimal cooking, come together quickly, and are versatile and customizable. While quinoa is technically not a grain, it behaves and tastes very much like one, and therefore it is one of my favorite grains to cook with. Unlike other grains, quinoa contains all nine essential amino acids that our bodies must obtain from food because we cannot make them ourselves. This makes it a good, high quality source of plant based protein, which is great for those following a plant-based diet. Quinoa is also higher in fiber than most grains, so it is quite filling.

The quinoa salad featured in these stuffed peppers is one of my new favorites because it is so flavorful and so easy to prepare! It involves minimal chopping, and you just throw the ingredients into a big bowl and stir to combine. I couldn’t stop taking bites of it as I was stuffing the peppers! You could easily skip the stuffed peppers entirely and eat this over a bed of greens, but the peppers just look so colorful and pretty!

 Ingredients

  • 2 cups cooked quinoa (about 1 cup dry)
  • 2 cups frozen corn
  • 1 can low sodium black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 cup red enchilada sauce
  • 2 scallions, thinly sliced
  • 2 handfuls fresh cilantro, chopped
  • 1-2 tbsp fresh lime juice
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • ½ tsp chili powder
  • ½ tsp cumin
  • 4 bell peppers, sliced in half lengthwise and deseeded
  • 1 avocado, sliced

Instructions

  1. Prepare dry quinoa and frozen corn according to package instructions.
  2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a large glass baking dish with parchment paper.
  3. Combine cooked quinoa, corn, black beans, enchilada sauce scallions, cilantro, lime juice and spices in a large mixing bowl and stir to combine.
  4. Arrange peppers, cut side up, in the baking dish (you may need to use two dishes, depending on the size of your peppers).
  5. Scoop about 1/3rd – ½ cup of quinoa stuffing into each pepper half.
  6. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until peppers are beginning to soften.
  7. Top with avocado slices and extra lime juice to serve.

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If you try this recipe, tag @daisybeet on Instagram so I can see your creations!