Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

I did pretty good for my first installment of “cooking my pantry”. There is a whole lotta pantry items up in this business! These turned out great, although a little less spicy than I was hoping for. I think I would add crushed red pepper next time….or another dried chili (in fact, I wish I had added another chili so it would be out of my pantry!)

My inspiration was this Quinoa Stuffed Peppers recipe, but I didn’t have everything so I just winged it!

I added the dried chili to the pot of quinoa and water when it was cooking, hoping to infuse some spiciness to the quinoa while reconstituting the pepper. FAIL! The quinoa was not at all spicy. I removed the chili once the quinoa was cooked, chopped it, and added it to my saute of onions and spinach.

I didn’t have any canned tomatoes, so I just chopped a couple fresh ones and added it to the mix of quinoa, sauteed vegetables, and black beans. Then I stuffed the peppers

After I baked them for 45 minutes at 350 (covered with foil), I removed the foil, topped them with some queso fresco, and baked them 5 more minutes until the cheese melted. Delish!

Next up on my pantry agenda is my overflowing baking items shelf. I have been doing great with my healthy eating and fitness goals over the last month or so, and I’m scared all this baking might derail me. Any takers for getting upcoming random baked goods off my hands?