Stuffed Peppers with Quinoa

A wonderful tasty vegetarian dish , Stuffed Peppers with Quinoa, a wonderful side dish , but good enough for a lunch time meal.

Ingredients

6 multi-colored bell peppers

1 cup cooked Quinoa (cooking instructions here)

4 garlic cloves

3 medium shallots (1 cup chopped)

¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon chopped parsley

¾ cup chopped Walnuts

2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon dried oregano

2 tablespoons lemon juice plus zest from ½ lemon

¼ teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Wash the peppers and cut them in half lengthwise; remove the stems and seeds.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, then place the peppers on top.

Bake with the cut side down for 15 minutes, then remove from the oven, flip to cut side up, and sprinkle with a little cracked pepper. Bake another 15 minutes until tender.

Mince the garlic, shallot and parsley. Chop the walnuts. In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add the garlic, shallot and red pepper flakes and sauté 1 to 2 minutes until the shallot is translucent and the garlic is fragrant.

Remove from the heat, then stir in the cooked quinoa, walnuts, ¼ cup parsley, paprika, oregano, lemon juice, zest, and black pepper.  

Spoon the filling into the roasted pepper halves.

Garnish with a small sprinkling of remaining parsley.