Quinoa-Stuffed Peppers w/ Goat Cheese

yeah...I left them under the broiler too long,
but the were still amazing! 

I'm on a veggie kick lately...it happens from time to time. I always forget how filling a meal can be with out meat.  This recipe is one of those great filling (but not weighty) meals that I always forget about.  And it is easy to make and adaptable!

TIME:  1.5 hours

YOU WILL NEED:

• A Large baking dish with a lid that can go from stove top to oven easily.  I used our large Le Creuset French oven. But you can use a pan for the stuffing on the stove top and a different dish for the oven.  I just like having less to clean afterwards!  
• Rice maker or just a pot.  

First cook the 1 cup of quinoa (red or white) in 1 cup of veggie stock and 1/3 cup of water.  While that is cooking in the rice cooker, prepare the stuffing:  

Sautee in the large pot on the stove, until the onion is translucent and the carrots are soft:

• 3 tbs of extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 a large onion quartered and sliced thin
• 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 2 sprigs of thyme (no stems)
• 2 tbs of cilantro
• 1 tbs of paprika
• 10 dashed of tabasco
• 1.5 cups of shredded carrot (this really helps sweeten the mix and lighten up the quinoa texture)
• 2 roasted red peppers (from the jar), diced
• 2 beefsteak tomatoes, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

Stir it all well and once done, turn down heat to medium low.  This will probably be done before the quinoa is, but once the quinoa is done (do not overcook!)...mix with the mixture in the pot and then store back into the rice maker.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Take 6 good sized bell peppers and rinse them off well.  I used a mix of green, red and yellow.  The green will have more kick while the red are sweeter.   Try to pick out peppers that can stand upright.  Slice of the tops and take out the cuts (including the white ribs).  Then rinse off the inside and outside again.  

Take that large pot and pour a 1/2 tbs of olive oil to help coat the bottom.  Take each bell pepper and put a small portion (the size of nickel, the thickness of two nickels) of goat cheese on the bottom of each hollow bell pepper.  This is the secret trick that really kicks up the deliciousness of this dish.  Then spoon in the stuffing mixture into the pepper filling it to the rim.  Then another small portion of goat cheese on the top.  I used a herbed garlic goat cheese for extra flavor.  Place each pepper into the large pot trying to situate them closely together to prevent one from falling over in the oven.   Finally, dash the top of each pepper with a little salt and pepper and paprika (mostly for color).  

Take the dish and put it into the oven (covered) for 20 minutes.  Keeping the cover on will help steam the peppers and cook them more quickly.   Once the peppers are starting to get soft, take the cover off and then broil the peppers for 10 minutes....but keep an eye on them!  I did not and you can see the results above.   Once they are golden brown pull them out and let them cool for 10 minutes before serving.  

There is no need for a side dish as it will be a pretty complete meal.   We served ours with a nice dry Riesling that complemented the earthy slightly spicy filling dish.   

Here you can see what one of the peppers looks like, after I flipped over the burnt goat cheese to make it more presentable.  

This is a super flexible dish.  Swap out rice for quinoa, add mushrooms, add jalepenos....take this dish and mix it up and serve it in this cold winter months.  It will definitely warm things up and fill you up!