If you’ve made a New Year’s Resolution to get 2013 off to a very healthy start and keep it that way then Mario Lopez is here to help. Bright, colorful, and bursting with healthy ingredients…his recipe for Quinoa Stuffed Peppers is just what the diet doctor ordered.
Eggplant, mushrooms, and of course, superfood quinoa will be right at home at your family’s dinner table; warm and delicious inside bright red peppers!
Read Related: Quinoa Goodness: The New Old Grain
QUINOA STUFFED PEPPERS
Serves: 1
Ingredients
2 red bell peppers
2 TSP olive oil
1 cup diced eggplant
1 cup sliced mushrooms
Pinch kosher salt
½ TSP black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 TSP fresh thyme
1 cup low sodium vegetable or chicken broth, divided
1 TBSP tomato paste
2 TBSP grated Parmesan or pecorino Romano cheese
½ cup cooked quinoa
Instructions
- Lay peppers on their sides and trim the bottom to create a flat surface.
- Cut tops off of the peppers and scoop out the seeds; set aside
- Heat oil in a skillet, add eggplant, mushrooms, and onions, season with salt and pepper and sauté for 3 to 5 minutes until tender.
- Add garlic, thyme, ½ cup vegetable both, and tomato paste and continue to cook for an additional 2 minutes
- Turn off heat and mix in cheese and quinoa.
- Fill each pepper with ½ of the quinoa mixture and transfer to a baking dish Pour remaining pepper with ½ of the the quinoa mixture and transfer to baking dish.
- Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 15 minutes, remove foil and bake at 10 more minutes.
This recipe was originally published in Extra Lean (Celebra) and is available for purchase Here.
In this New York Times bestselling diet book, Mario imparts his fool-proof plan for permanent weight loss while eliminating the guilt from enjoying the foods people love. The Extra Lean plan trains the body to constantly burn fat by following three simple steps:
