Stuffed Peppers

I made these with ground beef and quinoa for a slightly healthier meal. I fully cooked the quinoa and it came out slightly mushy once it baked with the meat and sauce mixture so I would recommend cooking the grains

3/4 of the way initially.

Ingredients:

green, yellow or red bell peppers (I like using the smaller ones)

1/2 lb of ground meat (beef, turkey or chicken)

1 cup of rice, brown rice, or quinoa

1 chopped onion

1 chopped tomato

1 tbsp tomato paste

3-4 minced garlic cloves

chicken broth or bouillon cube

seasonings such as salt, pepper, parsley, oregano, basil, paprika, cumin, etc You can pretty much throw in any seasonings you like and it works great.

you can also add various chopped veggies (mushrooms, zucchini, carrots, beans, peas, spinach, etc)

Marinara sauce or just some tomato paste mixed with water and seasonings.

Cook the rice, brown rice or quinoa with the chicken broth or bouillon cube dissolved in water, but use a little less liquid than you'd usually use so it comes out "al dente".

Saute onions in olive oil until they just start to turn golden brown. Add garlic. Add ground meat and cook until no longer pink. Add the tomatoes and the seasonings. Try to over season just a bit because the grains and peppers will take away from the seasoning a bit. When the meat is cooked and the tomatoes are broken down, add tomato paste and a little water until it thickens. Mix in the cooked grains.

Wash the peppers and slice off the tops trying not to cut off too much of the pepper. You can either fill the peppers this way, or slice them in half and fill them up as"boats". Remove the seeds from the center. lightly coat the outside with olive oil and sprinkle some salt and pepper. Fill the peppers generously with the grain/meat mixture and place on an oiled baking dish. Top with half of the tomato sauce/marinara sauce. Bake uncovered at 375 for about 20-30 minutes until the pepper is tender. Add more sauce upon serving.