Chorizo Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed peppers are one of those “choose your own adventure” main dishes based on what you have on hand. I like to use chorizo, but if I don’t have it, I’ll use ground turkey, and of course you can make them entirely vegetarian (simply bump up the veggies) and they’re just as delish. You can also fill them with pre-made frozen combos from your grocery, like quinoa-sweet potato-zucchini (I used to get this at TJ’s, but I’m not sure they carry it anymore). Like most things I make, I don’t really follow a recipe, but this is close-ish to what I do when I make stuffed peppers. NOTE: In the photographed version, I ended up using chorizo sausages, cut up, but I prefer to use ground chorizo.

CHORIZO QUINOA STUFFED PEPPERS

INGREDIENTS:

Olive oil
1 pound ground chorizo (alternatively, you could use Italian sausage, ground turkey, ground beef, etc. -- if you use a meat that isn’t pre-seasoned, however, you’ll need to add some spices of your choosing or taco seasoning)
1 zucchini, diced
1 onion, diced
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
~4 cups cooked quinoa or rice
~½ cup breadcrumbs (I like to use Panko)
4 bell peppers, halved, with seeds and ribs removed


INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large skillet, heat a generous drizzle of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add chorizo and cook until browned, breaking it apart with a wooden spoon or spatula along the way. Using a slotted spoon, transfer sausage to a large bowl. If there isn’t much grease in the skillet, add another drizzle of olive oil, along with the zucchini and onion. Cook until vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Add this mixture to the bowl with chorizo, along with the cheese, quinoa/rice, and about 1 teaspoon oil. Combine. Drizzle olive oil over a large baking sheet and arrange peppers (cut side up) across pan. Scoop mixture evenly among peppers and top with breadcrumbs. Bake until breadcrumbs are browned and the peppers seem to be tender (30-ish minutes). Enjoy!