Keepin' It Spicy

I must tell you, by the third week of this Detox for Women, it has gotten harder to stay inspired in the kitchen. The detox, lasting 30 days, bars gluten and sugar in all forms, all processed foods and even nuts and beans! So my cooking palette has been comprised solely of vegetables and a couple approved grains.

Especially in the last week, since the weather got colder, I've really been missing some of my favorite fall dishes: chili, shepard's pie (or as we call it around here, gardener's pie!), and...well, burritos. Recreating the flavors of your favorites with spices and other detox-approved ingredients is one of Natalia Rose's suggestions for keeping us cleansers from getting bored, so that's what I set out to do for good old burritos with these very, very flavorful stuffed peppers.

Mexican Quinoa-Stuffed Peppers
serves 4

4 green or red bell peppers, cored
1 cup quinoa
1 3/4 cups vegetable broth
1/2 large white onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 large ripe tomato, chopped
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon Ancho chili powder
1/2 cup pepitos
1/2 avocado, sliced

Preheat the oven to 350. Bring quinoa and vegetable broth to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer until quinoa is fully cooked - around 15 minutes. In the meantime, saute the onions, garlic and tomatoes in a little bit of olive oil. Once they start to soften, mix in the spices. After it starts to get nice and fragrant, mix the sofrito-ish thing into the quinoa with the pepitos, or pumpkin seeds. Stuff a quarter of the mixture into each pepper, place them in a circular baking dish with a 1/4-inch of water in the bottom, cover with foil and place in the oven for one hour.

Garnish with sliced avocado and a sprinkle of paprika. I recommend serving it with some squash soup. Makes for a super-nommy Tex Mex dinner.