Southwest Quinoa and Spiralized Sweet Potato Stuffed Bell Peppers
Try this Southwest Quinoa and Spiralized Sweet Potato Stuffed Bell Peppers recipe, or contribute your own.
Try this Southwest Quinoa and Spiralized Sweet Potato Stuffed Bell Peppers recipe, or contribute your own.
- salt
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- â¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- â¼ teaspoon paprika
- â¼ teaspoon onion powder
- â½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 6 medium-large bell peppers (pick the colors you lik
- 1 large sweet potato peeled blade d, noodles trimmed
- 1.5 cups cooked red quinoa
- 14.5 can diced tomatoes
- â½ teaspoon chili powder
- 15 can black beans drained and rinsed
- 1 cup whole kernel corn (from a can) drained
- â½ cup shredded mexican cheese blend
- 2 tablespoons minced cilantro
- 2 avocadoes peeled, pitted and sliced
- Carbohydrate 1225.78295465774 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 92.7922013502818 g
- Fiber 449.089596528701 g
- Protein 414.510505024994 g
- Saturated Fat 15.7946324679429 g
- Serving Size 1 1 recipe (10311g)
- Sodium 358.766345093114 mg
- Sugar 776.693358129043 g
- Trans Fat 12.3111306964531 g
- Calories 7007 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 baking dish or rimmed baking sheet. Spritz the peppers with the cooking spray and lay out in the dish/sheet.
- Place a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Once oil is shimmering, add the sweet potato noodles and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 5-7 minutes or until mostly wilted (they don’t need to be fully cooked, because they will cook longer in the peppers.) Add the quinoa, tomatoes, cayenne, paprika, onion powder, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, black beans, and corn. Season with salt. Mix together.
- Stuff the peppers with the quinoa mixture until all peppers are filled. If using cheese, sprinkle each pepper with cheese. Once peppers are filled to your preference, cover the dish/sheet with foil.
- Bake the peppers for 20 minutes and then remove the foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes or until peppers start to slightly brown. Remove the peppers from the oven, garnish with cilantro, and serve with avocado.
Decoding the Moisture Trap
The ingredient list fails to mention how much liquid canned tomatoes and black beans introduce into a baking vessel. Excess moisture pooling at the bottom of the baking dish prevents the peppers from retaining any structural integrity, resulting in a collapsed meal rather than a neat, handheld portion. Draining the canned beans thoroughly and using a fine-mesh strainer on the diced tomatoes removes excess surface liquid before the filling ever touches the pepper cavity. When combined with the pre-cooked red quinoa, which acts as a dense starch sponge, controlling the initial moisture content ensures the filling stays cohesive instead of soupy.
The Danger of Overcooked Sweet Potato Noodles
Spiralized sweet potato noodles require strict temperature management during their initial skillet phase because they continue softening significantly inside the 375 degree F oven. Sautéing them for only five to seven minutes until they are merely wilted keeps them from turning pasty once baked. Furthermore, cutting long noodles down into manageable two-inch lengths before mixing them into the black beans and spices prevents awkward clumps from forming inside the pepper hollows. Each bell pepper cavity should be packed firmly but not forcefully, allowing heated air to circulate through the grain and vegetable matrix during the twenty minutes of covered baking.
Managing the Final Browning Stage
Removing the aluminum foil after twenty minutes exposes the surface cheese and pepper skins to direct heat, but leaving them in too long beyond fifteen minutes dries out the exposed edges of the sweet potato strands. Watch for the moment when the cheese turns bubbly and the bell pepper walls develop slight blistered brown spots while still offering resistance to a knife blade. Pair these hearty vegetarian mains with a sharp, vinegar-heavy lime slaw or a crisp jicama salad to cut through the rich density of the black beans and avocado slices.
