A little spin on everyones fav stuffed pepper recipe from my cookbook - get ready for these vegetarian friendly Coconut Curry Stuffed Peppers!
Stuffed Peppers were are way of live in the Dalkin household when I was growing up! My grandfather on my moms side was Bulgarian and he loooooved a stuffed pepper situation. Usually they were stuffed with rice and meat and spices, but I've been oddly buying a lot of coconut milk recently (I have no idea why) and having just re-organized my spice pantry found 123123 bottles of curry powder.... so this Coconut Curry Stuffed Peppers recipe was born!
It's great if you're vegetarian! If you want to add some ground meat to the quinoa mixture, have at it! Just add a little extra curry powder to pack some more flavor. And just know that the toppings really bring this all together so dont be skimpy!
A few things to keep in mind:
- notice how I cut the pepper from top to bottom, try it this way rather that cutting in in half in the middle! It's much prettier!
- curry powder - make sure it's a fairly recent purchase so it's as flavorful as it's meant to be! Spices last for about 12-18 months so just something to keep in mind. The longer they sit, the less potent they become.
- if you're not into quinoa - this absolutely will work with rice - just make sure you're adding enough liquid to cook the grain.
Coconut Curry Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
- 4 large bell peppers halved (from top to bottom), seeds removed
- 1 cup multi-colored quinoa
- 1 cup full fat coconut milk
- 1 cup water
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 yellow onion chopped
- 4 cups baby spinach
- 1 pound mushrooms, sliced
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger
- 2 tablespoons curry powder, plus more as needed
- 4 green onions, sliced
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
Toppings:
- Cilantro
- Thai Basil
- Sliced Green Onions
- Limes
Instructions
- Cook the quinoa according to the package directions with the coconut milk and the remaining liquid being water.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish or rimmed baking sheet. Brush the halved peppers with vegetable oil and place them cut side up on the baking sheet.
- Heat the olive in a medium skillet over high heat. Add the onion and sauté for 5 minutes until soft. Add in the mushrooms and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Add the spinach and let wild entirely, stir to combine. Add the garlic and ginger and curry powder and stir to combine and cook until fragrant. Add the mixture to the cooked quinoa, stir in the green onions and mix well. Season with salt and pepper and extra curry powder as needed.
- Generously stuff halved peppers with quinoa mixture until all peppers are full, then cover the dish with foil. Bake for 30 minutes or until peppers are soft and slightly golden brown. Garnish with assorted toppings listed above.
Made this dish tonight to accompany my husbands T-bone that I don’t eat since I’m not a meat eater. It was delicious. We both enjoyed it and look forward to having it for lunch tomorrow
Just made these yesterday and subbed ground chicken for the mushrooms (I hate mushrooms) and they are even better the next day as leftovers. Perfect amount of heat with a slight sweetness from the coconut milk and all the veggies!
Sounds good! Going to try this tomorrow for my Meatless Monday.
Any suggestions on what to add besides meat to up the protein content?
Thanks and I’ll come back and rate it!
chickpeas!!
Love the curry addition to this dish. So delicious and good for you!!
Sounds so good! How long do you cook them in the oven? Or not?