Eight beautiful light green gypsy peppers arrived last week in the CSA box. Gypsy peppers are similar to a bell pepper, but are smaller, sweeter, and more delicate (thinner walls). The fresh produce from the CSA box was exuding welcome healthiness - after spending a week on vacation eating nearly every meal at a restaurant, I was ready for a serious dose of healthy food. Stuffed peppers sounded like they would do the trick.
I did a quick search online, but was disappointed to find most stuffed pepper recipes were either meaty or involved raisins, which just sounded weird to me. So I came up with my own version. I knew it would involve rice (I thought my favorite purple jasmine rice would look really cool in the light green peppers). My criterion for the other ingredients was: would I put it in marinara sauce? If the answer was yes (and I had it on hand), it went into the stuffing. I think the peppers turned out really tasty - I'm already planning to make these again with the gypsy peppers that are scheduled to come in this week's produce box. Here's how it goes:
Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers
Serves 2
4 medium bell peppers or 8 gypsy peppers
olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 c. rice, cooked
6 oz. tomato paste
1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
a splash of balsamic vinegar
about 1 Tbsp. fresh oregano, chopped
about 2 Tbsp. fresh basil, chopped
freshly ground black pepper
Remove the tops and insides of the peppers to prepare them to be filled.
Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook until translucent, about 4 minutes.
Combine onion and garlic with remaining ingredients in a medium bowl. Stir well to mix. Spoon the filling into the peppers, sealing each with their top and placing in a baking dish.
Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees.
Add a side salad to these peppers, and you have yourself a meal. If this recipe leaves you craving protein, you could add kidney beans, garbanzo beans, or tofu to the filling. I'll likely include kidney beans in my next iteration this week. My mouth is already watering!
This recipe sounds really good! If I can find the gypsy peppers, I will try to make them. I might substitute quinoa for the rice, which would help boost the protein.
ReplyDeleteOh my, it's been too long since I last stopped by. Looks like your blog is doing quite well though. I love this recipe. It looks so tasty...my mouth is watering also!
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