Light and healthy Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers filled with tomatoes, onions, black beans and cilantro, seasoned to perfection and topped with melted cheese!

stuffed-peppers-1

Ok so I started typing this epic blog post in the middle of watching The Bachelorette….and then it ended and I proceeded to delete everything I had previously typed.

Ummm what the eff?!

I had to delete my entire post because, well, it was all about Sean.  The too-good-to-be-true, too-hot-for-cable-television, all-American-perfect-male-specimen-SEAN.  What was she thinking letting him go???

First of all, lets state the obvious.  Arie is a total creepster.  Sure its cute they kiss all the time and he can’t stop touching her, but why not try having an intelligent conversation??  And then when asked what he does on any given night, he goes on to say going out with his friends because he hates being home.  Duuuude, you’re about to become a dad.  I think weekly night dinners around the table are destined in your immediate future…oh yeah and 5:00 AM wake up calls.

And then there is Jef.  Sweet, adorable Jef.  No I wasn’t the biggest fan of him in the beginning, but he has really come to surprise me.  He’s an old soul with great hair, all wrapped up in a skater boy’s body.  Now that Sean’s gone (RIP) I’m totally on board Team Jef and am now hoping he wins the whole thing.

In the meantime, go ahead and make Sean the next Bachelor.
Thanks in advance Chris Harrison.

2

And speaking of beautiful men, yes tonight IS the night ladies.  I’m finally going to see the highly anticipated movie Magic Mike.  I’m headed there with about 10 of my girlfriends and we’ll of course be downing delicious martinis beforehand.  C’mon, would you expect anything less??  One must be prepared for a gyrating Channing Tatum and shirtless Matthew McConaughey.

And on that note, I made some delicious quinoa stuffed bell peppers.  Feel free to make this dish completely clean by omitting the cheese and chopping up fresh tomatoes.  You’ll save over 50 calories per serving and I guarantee this will still taste pretty amazing!

5 from 2 votes

Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers

Light and healthy Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers filled with tomatoes, onions, black beans and cilantro, seasoned to perfection and topped with melted cheese!
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 8

Ingredients 

  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 2 ribs celery, chopped
  • 1 Tbsp ground cumin
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
  • 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes, drained, liquid reserved
  • 1 15 oz can black beans, rinsed, drained
  • 3/4 cup quinoa
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 1 cup Trader Joes Pepper Jack cheese
  • 4 large red bell peppers, halved lengthwise, ribs removed
  • Salt and pepper
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Instructions 

  • Heat oil in saucepan over medium heat. Saute onion, celery and jalapeno for about 5 minutes, until soft, then add cumin and garlic and cook for an additional minute. Stir in drained tomatoes (reserving liquid) and cook for 5 minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated.
  • Stir in black beans, quinoa and 1 1/2 cups water. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until quinoa is tender. Stir in 1 cup of cheese and season with salt and pepper, if desired.
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and pour reserved liquid from tomatoes in the bottom of your baking dish.
  • Fill each halved bell pepper with 3/4 cup quinoa mixture and place in baking dish. Cover with foil and bake 40 minutes. Transfer stuffed bell peppers onto serving dish and drizzle pan juices over top. Enjoy!

Nutrition

Serving: 1/2 stuffed bell pepper | Calories: 214kcal | Carbohydrates: 27.2g | Protein: 13.7g | Fat: 7.8g | Saturated Fat: 2.8g | Fiber: 6.3g | Sugar: 3.9g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Like this? Leave a comment below!

As a self-proclaimed foodie and fitness enthusiast, I have a passion for cooking and a huge desire to show that living a healthy lifestyle can actually be easy and fun!  Feel free to use the meal guide above to find your new favorite meal ideas or the dietary guides to the right to narrow things down even more!

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58 Comments

  1. The Mrs @ Success Along the Weigh says:

    Uhh…YUM!

    All of the girlfriends who would actually see this movie with me are out of town. I’m trying to drag my Mr there as payback for Showgirls back in the day.

  2. Amy says:

    A) I LOVE quinoa, so excited about this recipe. B) I just saw Magic Mike with some girl friends last night! So much fun! Hope you like the movie too!!

  3. Marysa says:

    I am so excited that you are now posting clean recipes! I can’t wait to see what you Come up with!

  4. tracey @ bellaskydesigns says:

    This looks so yummy! Found your site on pinterest, I am now a stalker! In a good way! Hee hee. Gonna try this soon!

  5. Krysta says:

    Yay! Team Jef!!!

  6. Jin says:

    now this is a recipe that I want to try, it sounds delicious. I didn’t see Magic Mike but I YouTude all of the dance scenes lol

  7. Valerie Braun says:

    WAHAHAHAHAHA! TOO FUNNY! TOTALLY agree with the bachelorette bits! outrageous. haha

  8. Cassie/Bake Your Day says:

    I love these Kelly! I made something similar a while back, I will never turn down a stuffed pepper!

  9. April says:

    This looks amazing! Not a huge fan of quinona but these make me want to keep on trying to eat it it.

    I saw Magic Mike on opening night with a couple of girlfriends…you will def enjoy the eye candy…I only wish I had a couple of margaritas before hand 🙂

  10. Jen says:

    Sean!! 🙁 I’m kind of scared for the producers of the Bachelor for all the death threats they will receive if he isn’t the next Bachelor. Hopefully we can just avoid all of that. Thanks for the recipe! I will be making this next week.