After eating mostly plant based for awhile, I crave vegetables! I love creating meals and seeing how many veggies I can add to it. I decided to make vegan stuffed peppers with a variety of vegetables. I looked up a couple recipes as I usually do, but then I always give it my spin and my dietitian/nutritionist touch.

It’s vegan/plant based stuffed peppers loaded with protein, fiber, antioxidants, and so many different nutrients. I use black beans and quinoa as my protein, a bunch of different veggies, and different spices including turmeric, brewers yeast (a punch of B12), chili powder, cumin, thyme, and pretty much anything else that “smelled” good. That’s usually how I know what seasoning to add – just smell all the spices I have and play around.

The first step is to get some beautiful, colorful peppers and you could either cut just the tops off and leave the pepper like a “cup”, or you  can do what I did and cut them in halves. I typically leave them in cups but I decided to cut them in halves this time

Then you’re going to cut up all your veggies. Use the tops of the peppers that you cut and dice them along with sweet potato, onions, and garlic. Let it saute for a couple minutes. Then throw in your corn, blackbeans, and canned of diced tomatoes. Then you’ll add your seasoning. Meanwhile, you’re cooking your quinoa. Once the quinoa is complete you’ll combine everything together.

Adjust seasonings to taste then scoop it out and fill the peppers. Put a small amount of salsa in the baking dish to steam the peppers. Let cook for 40 minutes and voila. Dinner is ready.

Black beans are an excellent source of folate, which helps prevent neural tube defects during pregnancy; fiber through the veggies, beans and corn, which helps combat constipation – a common side effect during pregnancy; iron, which transports oxygen throughout your blood stream; protein, which is important for every stage of pregnancy as you are creating a human being, and B12 with the Brewers yeast which helps maintain healthy nerve cells which is critical for the developing baby. B12 works together with folic acid/folate in making red blood cells that helps iron work more efficiently.

For breastfeeding moms, there is no need to avoid black beans in fear that it will make your baby gassy. Breastmilk is made from your blood, so what happens in your digestive tract, has no influence of what goes in your bloodstream. If you eat gassy foods, is your blood now gassy? No. Now allergens, alcohol, medications, etc do go into your bloodstream, but gassy foods do not.

The topped avocados are an excellent source of healthy fat, which are crucial for baby’s brain development. It also contains anti-inflammatory components, which occurs both during pregnancy and even breastfeeding.