I found myself with a few extra peppers  and thought I would try something new. This makes a great meal because you can use whatever vegetables you have on hand.  I like the combination of mushrooms and spinach with the spicy seasoning. My Mom gave me a jar of potlatch seasoning, which is supposed to be a seafood spice rub but I added a teaspoon to the filling for a little seasoning. Feel free to mix things up, I like the spiciness that the seasoning and pepper jack cheese provides.

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients:

• 2 Peppers, any variety
• 1 Cup quinoa, cooked (2 cups water to 1 cup quinoa)
• 1 Teaspoon potlatch seasoning
• 1 Cup mushrooms, chopped
• 2 Big handfuls of baby spinach
• 2 Cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Shallots, chopped (or sub onions)
• Pepper jack cheese

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Spritz a frying pan with olive oil and saute mushrooms until they begin to brown.
3. Remove mushrooms and place in a bowl.
4. Spritz with olive oil again and saute shallots and garlic until fragrant. Try not to burn/brown the garlic.
5. Place shallots and garlic in the bowl with the mushrooms.
6. Saute two big handfuls of baby spinach, they will cook waaaay down so don’t be shy about using a lot of spinach.
7. Add spinach to the mushrooms mixture and stir until all ingredients are combined.
8. Add cooked quinoa and potlatch seasoning.
9. Cut peppers in half and remove the seeds. If they are lop sided, slice a tiny bit off of the bottom to create a platform. If this leaves a hole place the cut piece inside the pepper to patch the hole. I did this and it worked well, no spilled filling.
   
10. Sprinkle a little cheese on the bottom of the pepper, fill halfway with the filling, add more cheese, and add more filling.
11. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes.
    
12. Remove foil and sprinkle a little cheese on top.
13. Bake until cheese has melted, another 5 to 10 minutes.
14. Serve with a side salad and enjoy!