Stuffed Peppers and Bellies

For the past few days Mike and I have been talking health and portions as well as fitness. We both work out regularly and have been talking about how portion sizes and exercise are what being healthy is about.

So the other day - while I ate cereal for dinner - he made stuffed peppers. From the look of the recipe it's his adaptation of "Cajun Stuffed Peppers"

The ingredient list calls for:

1 cup brown rice

1/3 cup quinoa

2 large bell peppers, halved lengthwise

1 Tbsp EVOO

1 medium onion, chopped

1/4 lb andouille sausage, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 tsp dried thyme

Large pinch of allspice (optional)

Salt

1 14 oz can low sodium diced tomatoes

1 small bunch of kale, stems removed, leaves chopped

Chopped fresh parsley, for topping (optional)

This sounds super delicious and very healthy - well, maybe not the andouille sausage but hey. Have to splurge now and then. So here is the ingredient picture to show how he changed it up.

So instead of kale, spinach was used and it doesn't look like any rice was used, just quinoa. Which ultimately is better for you. It's a more complete grain. The protein content is very high (18%) making it a source of complete protein (to all you vegetarians out there - eat more quinoa!) It is also a good source of dietary fiber, phosphorous and is high in magnesium and iron. It also is a great source of calcium (another for those veggies out there or lactose intolerant people). And another benefit is it is gluten free and easy to digest. So this little grain is just superb and superior to other grains (maybe I'm just biased).

Looks like he took the onion and sauteed that up and then added the meat, tomatoes and spinach and cooked it down. The quinoa was cooked separately then mixed together after.

Then of course it's time to stuff the peppers. The peppers were pre-cooked in the microwave for just a few minutes to soften them up. Of course if you prefer your peppers crunchy, cook for less time. As you can see above that just looks amazingly delicious. He can definitely find good recipes and then even adapt them and make them tasty and pretty. He said that he had two servings because of how delicious it was. I don't blame him haha. He said that I can have some Friday for dinner when I come over. :) I'm excited to try. He thinks I'll really like it. It's super healthy and has a great amount of nutrients and is also, protein, carb, and veggies. Can't beat that for a stuffed pepper. I also appreciate that it isn't loaded up with cheese to make it "taste good." If you have to add cheese to make your food taste good, you cooked it wrong.

As you can see, he destroyed them ;) Meaning they were delicious.

Kudos on the healthy and delicious dinner, can't wait to dig in myself.

The recipe even came with nutritional information - here it is:

Per 1/4 recipe:

Calories: 475

Fat: 16g

Saturated Fat: 4g

Cholesterol: 19mg

Sodium: 773mg

Carbs: (I can't see it on the paper)

Fiber: 9g

Protein: 18g

Here is the recipe for those that want the original

Looks to be from Food Network - go check it out