Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

I finally felt good enough last night to make dinner. Thank goodness. It has been a pretty crappy few days.
We had Quinoa Stuffed Peppers. They were adapted from this recipe. Adapted mainly because I didn't have all the things I needed to make them and I didn't feel like going to the store. Also because I had some stuff in my fridge I wanted to use. My version is a little more suited to our tastes. You could definitely add different veggies, you may need to adjust your cooking time. Basically, the veggies should be just done. They should have a bit of a bite to them, not mushy. Below is the recipe with my adaptations.
If you have never had quinoa you're missing out. It's delicious. It's an ancient whole grain and is a fantastic source of protein. I think it has a nice nutty taste. It is one of my favorite foods and it is good for you! I think you'll love it.
Again, I cut the recipe in half because there is only two of us. Most recipes are fine being halved like that.

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers - adapted from Rachel Ray's Week in a Day
1/2 cup quinoa
1 cup vegetable stock
2 bell peppers, mixed colors, seeded and halved
11/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small firm eggplant, trimmed of half the skin, diced
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 small firm zucchini, seeded and diced
1 small firm yellow squash, seeded and diced
1 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp dried marjoram

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
Bring the quinoa and stock to a boil. Cover and simmer until the liquid is absorbed and the grain looks translucent, 12 to 15 minutes. 
Drizzle the bell pepper halves with extra virgin olive oil and season both sides with salt and pepper. Roast cut-side down until the skins begin to char and the peppers are just tender, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool slightly, then arrange in a baking dish cut-side up. 

Meanwhile, heat 11/2 tbs extra virgin olive oil, over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, eggplant, zucchini, squash, onions and red pepper flakes, and season with salt and pepper. Cook partially covered to tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Add the herbs and stir in quinoa.
Fill the pepper halves with the quinoa and vegetable stuffing. Serve the pepper halves topped with Parmesan cheese.

I didn't add cheese to mine and it was still quite yummy. I did add a nice grind of sea salt over the top and that was really good. This has a good bit of spice, so if you don't want too much of a bite, cut back on the red pepper flakes. Aside from all the chopping this was actually a pretty simple meal and it came together pretty quickly once everything got going. I served them with just a side of steamed spinach. 
Just a note, the red peppers I had were the long and thin kind, not great for stuffing. They looked pretty, but they were kind of messy. (As you can see from the picture below)