Stuffed Red Pepper with Quinoa and Chickpeas

Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 45 min
Servings: 4
Yield: 4 servings

Description

Red bell peppers are stuffed with quinoa, chickpeas, walnuts, and goat cheese for a quick Mediterranean-inspired vegetarian main coarse.

Ingredients

1 teaspoon olive oil, or as needed
1 1/3 cups water
2/3 cup quinoa
1 (16 ounce) can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained and rinsed
1 (16 ounce) can stewed tomatoes (such as Del Monte® Stewed Tomatoes with Onions, Celery, and Green Peppers)
1/4 cup walnut pieces
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 bunch green onions, sliced, white parts and tops separated
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon dried mint leaves
1 pinch ground cinnamon
2 large red bell peppers, halved lengthwise, seeds and membrane removed
1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese

Directions

1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish with olive oil.
2 Bring water and quinoa to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until quinoa is tender and water has been absorbed, 15 to 20 minutes.
3 Mix garbanzo beans, stewed tomatoes, walnuts, raisins, white parts of green onions, lemon juice, chili powder, garlic powder, mint, and cinnamon together in a bowl; stir in cooked quinoa.
4 Arrange red bell pepper halves, hollow-side facing upwards, in the prepared baking sheet. Spoon quinoa mixture into each red bell pepper half.
5 Bake in the preheated oven until bell peppers are tender, about 30 minutes. Spoon a few teaspoons of drippings from the bottom of the baking dish over each stuffed pepper; top each with 1 tablespoon goat cheese and green parts of green onions.