Stuffed Red Pepper (read: superiority on a plate)

Isn't it just calling your name?

 Holy, are we having gorgeous weather or what? I can’t even handle it. You may or may not still be inspired to get healthy and eat clean, so just in case you’re wavering a little, here’s a healthy and delicious pin-worthy/hashtag-able (this is my blog, and I can make up words if I want to) little number to increase your superiority over your friends who continue to post photos of drinking beer and eating wings on various patios, despite it being bikini season (the fact of which I am reminded every time I try to purchase something in a store which sells magazines.) And! You may not let this go, until October, at which point we move to Party Dress Season, thus requiring you to remain slender but still properly emotionally vulnerable to then buy into Resolution Season. Cook this up and smugly post it to your Instagram, reminding all of your friends and followers about how you snobbily decline to deign to destroy your temple with their disgusting, dirty food.

I mock the clean eating, but in reality, I totally buy into it, because I do like to feel good, and as we know, I am trying to be that snotty bitch who only drinks Perrier at the bar now. Not only that, if I am going to run for miles without a destination (besides getting back to my damn house) and downward dog enough to permanently damage the circulation system in my brain, I would like to see some results on my body that somewhat resembles muscle tone and/or a six pack. Sadly, this will not occur if you continue to eat poutine and Pabst, which is exactly all I ate last summer. (My darling American fan base- if you need to know what poutine is, check it out. Sadly, this national treasure will forever remind all of North America why Canada is, in fact, superior. Only in the freezing north could you find a dish that will add a full layer of fat to your body instantly. It’s practically a survival technique in this land.)

“Bailey, are we at any point going to get to the recipe, or will you continue to use this blog to emphasize your own superiority complex for the next several paragraphs?” I can see this very thought in your mind. So anyway, here we go.

You’ll need quinoa (a food which has become so trendy it now has its own section in Chapters, yet is not recognized by MS Word), a red pepper, your jazzy avocado sauce, various greens (I read about kale all the time, but I used chard in this recipe), a little garlic, feta if you do dairy, diced tomato, olive oil and various spices (chili, cumin, coriander).

Start by coring and seeding your red pepper. If you are a more popular person than I am, then obviously make a pepper per person. Cook your quinoa- just make as much as you want. This makes a great salad the next day if you have leftovers. Sauté your greens with garlic and add them to the quinoa. Now add your tomato, feta, and spices, plus a healthy drizzle of olive oil. Be bold- add whatever you like to this. This one had a southwest flavour, but you could go Greek, or Asian, the world is your proverbial oyster. Use what you have on hand.

Now bake in an oven for about an hour on 375°. Cover with tinfoil so they don’t dry out. Near the end, top with some cheese if you want to, although many health people I know don’t do the cheese. Also, if you want to make this vegan, you’d clearly want to skip it in that scenario as well. Do top with your avocado sauce, because you are the kind of person who drizzles and tops. I can tell. I like that about you.

Here you are! Your very own Instagram-able meal! Hashtag away: #vegan #cleaneating #imbetterthanyou

See? I Instagram: baileyreid85!