Who wants to cook in the summer? We want to eat healthy, but cook? Nah! Busy schedules, trying to take advantage of the extra hours of sunlight and activities outside the home make cooking anything more involved than throwing a couple of burgers on the grill (make mine veggie, please!) an unpleasant thought, at least for me. And I doubt I’m alone. But the following recipe for Rainbow Stuffed Peppers, courtesy of celebrity nutritionist and New York Times bestselling author of The Beauty Detox Foods, Kimberly Snyder, is perfect to satisfy your hunger. Red peppers are considered a “beauty food” since they’re loaded with vitamin C which helps repair and regenerate collagen, the protein that gives structure to your skin. Plus, they’re lower in fat than traditional stuffed peppers. Whip up a batch for dinner; take the leftovers to work for lunch the following day. Yum!
RAINBOW STUFFED PEPPERS
Kimberly Snyder’s Rainbow Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients:
6 red, yellow, orange or green peppers, or a combination, seeded and hollowed out
1/4 cup vegetable broth
6 cloves of garlic
1 small onion, chopped
2 cups of broccoli florets, cut into small pieces
4 cups of kale, chopped finely
2 medium carrots, diced
1 cup basil, chopped finely
High quality sea salt, to taste
¾ tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. oregano
2 Tbs. low-sodium tamari
3/4 cup dried quinoa
Pre-prep:
**Be sure to soak the quinoa overnight in water and rinse well before using.
Instructions for preparing seeded and hollowed peppers:
Make an incision at the rounded top of each pepper, about 1 – 1 ½ inches from the stem.
Cut all around the stem in an even circle, then pull out the stem and the seeds.
Discard stem, and save the rest of the pepper top to chop and add to the filling
If necessary, clean out any remaining seeds from inside the pepper and discard.
In a saucepan place 2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and add the quinoa to the hot water, and simmer until the water is absorbed and the grains become translucent soft (about 10-15 minutes). Pour through a strainer and set to the side in a bowl.
Sauté garlic in vegetable broth over medium heat, until gently cooked, then add onions, and stir until the onions become translucent. Add the broccoli, kale, carrot, chopped pepper tops (from preparing the peppers) and basil and cook gently for a few minutes. Add the sea salt and other seasonings to the veggie mixture and stir it up!
Add the cooked quinoa and mix everything together well.
Adjust seasonings to your taste. The mixture should taste slightly saltier than your taste, as the seasoning will be less concentrated when we stuff the plain bell peppers.
Once you are satisfied with your filling, spoon into each pepper, right up to the top.
Place peppers tightly next to each other in a glass dish so they remain upright.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
Garnish with fresh basil just before serving.
For more information on Kimberly Snyder, The Beauty Detox Solution or The Beauty Detox Foods please visit http://www.kimberlysnyder.net or http://www.beautydetoxfoods.com
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