Cheesy Broccoli & Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

You know those classic combinations that bring two ingredients together and it’s like an explosion of flavors and you can’t imagine eating them separately from now on? Take peanut butter and jelly, for example. Or chocolate and peanut butter, for that matter. Or even tomatoes and basil. They’re all basic ingredients, delicious on their own, but when paired with the other, they’re taken to a whole new level. It’s like a good relationship. They complement each other in all the right ways. They make the other better; helps them stand out and lifts them up. Together they’re a force to be reckoned with. Okay, now perhaps I’m pushing this a little too far in the philosophical direction, but you get the idea. There are just those ingredients that are simply meant to be together. Broccoli and cheese is one of those combos. For me the love affair started when my dad used to make homemade cheddar soup when we were kids, and I would always dunk pieces of broccoli into. I loved that each piece of broccoli would absorb the cheesy flavor, taking the sauce into each little crevice of the floret. Nowadays, this pairing is a little less infrequent in our house. I don’t eat much dairy, Matt isn’t the biggest fan of soups, but from time to time that cheesy-broccoli goodness comes creeping into my mind and it’s a hard one to shake. I realize I could have gone the traditional route with this recipe and made you a vegan broccoli-cheddar soup, but that didn’t seem as fun. I wanted something that would be super easy to make, didn’t take many ingredients, would be simple to make vegan and that involved lots of veggies. It didn’t take my long to think of my base for this recipe – my 5-ingredient quinoa mac and cheese is not only, but it’s also a cinch to whip up. So with that as our starting point, I figured why not throw in some broccoli and call it a day? Sure, that would have been absolutely amazing, but I wanted to go bigger. Instead of just giving you broccoli and quinoa mac and cheese, I figured why don’t we get even more veggies involved and stuff this tasty mixture into some peppers? Well, I’m happy to report these quinoa stuffed peppers totally rocked my world. And I hope they rocks yours too. They’re filled to the brim with creamy, cheesy gooeyness, and yet they’re actually pretty adaptable. Want to make them vegan? Sure, sub in the cheddar for vegan cheese. Not a fan of broccoli? No problem, add in your veggies of choice. There’s endless possibilities with this recipe, but since broccoli-cheese are a match made in savory heaven, it only made sense to bring that to your first. Enjoy!