Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Tasty Tuesdays #4 - Mexican Stuffed Peppers

This recipe is adapted from Clean Eating Magazine - one of my favourite sources for recipes that are diet friendly! It is a vegetarian dish that can easily be made vegan by omitting the dairy. It is a snap to make and you can squeeze in a quick workout while it cooks up. :P


Ingredient round up: plain yogurt, brown rice (1 c prepared), black beans (1 cup), olive oil, garlic, tomato, chile powder, cumin, 4 red peppers, fresh cilantro, onion, frozen corn (1 cup) and low fat cheese (not shown).


To start things off, make sure your brown rice is COOKED. You will need 1 cup. Now is a good time to preheat your oven to 375-degrees. Begin by chopping your tomatoes and onions. Put them into a large bowl with the corn, black beans and rice.


Now it is time for the flavoring agents! Add a few cloves of minced garlic, 1/4 tsp of chile powder, 1 tsp olive oil and a good handful of chopped cilantro*. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper in the mixture. Mix well!


Mmmm....it's coming together now!


Red peppers in various stages of deconstruction! Wash them, cut them in half and remove the stems and seeds. These will be the 'cups' for your stuffing.


Time to get messy. There really is no graceful way to do this...just roll up your sleeves and cram a half-cup of stuffing into each pepper.


Add the peppers to a baking dish that has been sprayed with a little cooking spray. Cover the dish in aluminum foil. These will go into the oven for 40-45 minutes. I actually did a quick treadmill workout while these baked up - can you believe it?! When the time is up, top each pepper with a tablespoon of Tex Mex cheese (my cheat: shredded cheese seasoned with a bit of cumin). Let bake for another 5-10 uncovered until the cheese is melted and golden.


That's the ticket! I serve these up with a green salad, a couple of avocado slices and a dollop of plain low fat yogurt or sour cream.

Enjoy!
Rae
xo

*NOTE: cilantro is one of those "love it or hate it" herbs. If you haven't tried it before, make sure you like it first! You can substitute fresh basil or parsley if you place it in the 'hate it' camp. ;)

9 comments:

  1. I used to HATE cilantro, but have come to love it. My kids still hate it though. This recipe looks delicious and my running partner was just telling me about this magazine tonight. Thanks for your sweet, encouraging comments on my blog.

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  2. Such pretty pictures! I love the composition of the one with the measuring spoons pre-filled with ingredients...very cool.

    I'm one of those that hate cilantro...I think it's great you offered some options.

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  3. Yum! That roasted stuffed red bell pepper looks delicious! It's like corn salad but baked in a bell pepper! HELL YEAH.

    Anyway, I love cilantro, but I love all things strong tasting (onions, garlic, leeks, basil, thyme, rosemary, ginger, etc.) Yum yum yum!

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  4. this looks SO GOOD!!! Thanks for sharing !
    Just found your blog. Looking forward to following! :)

    Kelly
    Journey to a New Me
    www.anewmejourney.blogspot.com

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  5. your food always looks so tasty, i am definitely going to try this one. i was reading through the ingredients thinking, hmm, what the heck is cilantro, and is it possible i could hate a herb? anyway, i googled it - we (aussies) call it coriander - one of my all-time favourites! SOLD!

    i'm wondering whether some kidney beans would be a good alternative to black beans. i have this fear that i'm allergic to black beans but am not game to test the theory :-)

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  6. That looks amazing!!! I love the Clean Eating Magazine :)

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  7. thanks for stopping by my blog! this is, quite possibly the most colorful food I've ever seen! :)

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