Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed peppers are a really great thing to make as a flexible snack or meal. Peppers are basically a natural bowl. They're already hollow, you just have to remove the stem and the seeds attached to it and you have ready to fill edible bowls. I became an expert at doing this without any utensils this summer, but a knife (doesn't even have to be a sharp one) helps. This recipe has 3 steps. 1. Slice peppers in half. 2. Remove the seeds. 3. Fill with desired materials. Done! Super easy and a nice change from salads. I usually stuff my peppers with hummus and some combination of veggies, cheese, and dressing. This time I stuffed them with some leftover quinoa that my roommate made, and some tomato basil spinach. Delicious! One great thing about stuffing peppers is that I can be as complicated or simple as I want, and depending on the size this can be a great meal or snack. Mini peppers are good for snacks and apps, and a full sized stuffed pepper makes an awesome and filling vegetarian meal. 

The picture directly above is a meal I made last year. It's a full sized red pepper. The stuffing is hummus, feta, spinach, carrots, red wine vinaigrette, and cucumber. The great consistency comes from mixing it all together in a blender. This is great if you want to put a ton of different veggies in, but are having a hard time getting them to mix well. This was a really filling meal. Eating one of the halves left me feeling satisfied.

These guys are not the most picturesque of the stuffed peppers but they made a nice after school snack. I stuffed these peppers with black bean and corn salsa and then put some smoked gouda on top. I microwaved them for about a minute. This was yummy, but I think it would have worked better with shredded cheese.

Thoughts on this Dish:

• I love making these! They are super quick, I'd love to try the recipe for a party or something. 
• I know that there are versions where you cook the peppers, I have yet to try one because I like crunchy raw peppers and I'm hesitant to spend more time on this dish when it's so quick to do this way.
• I've considered doing this with other veggies, like tomatoes or cucumbers, even though it would take a little more time to clean.

This is a super easy and flexible recipe that allows me to be as creative as I want!!