Pan-American Peppers

Pan-American Peppers. Photo © Denice Rovira Hazlett 2013A friend recently employed me to prepare vegetarian meals for their family and, to me, this was a win-win situation. It would give me an opportunity to experiment with some veggie-based dishes I've had my eye on but hadn't yet tried, and it would ensure that we'd have a healthy (and, hopefully, delicious) dinner on the table ourselves. One of my favorites so far has been this stuffed pepper dish, originally from Moosewood Restaurant New Classics. I changed a couple of things, but not much. Because there aren't a lot of affordable sources for quinoa around here, and because we buy rice by the 25# bag, I used brown rice instead. It turned out fabulous. I hope you enjoy these peppers as much as we do! 

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Pan-American Peppers

Serves 6

Prep time: About an hour and a half

Ingredients:

1 cup raw brown rice
6 medium red and yellow peppers
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onions
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 cup chopped carrots
3/4 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped summer squash
1 1/2 cups corn kernels
2 cups grated cheese

Preheat the oven to 400° F. Oil baking pan. 

Cook brown rice according to package directions. Set aside. 

Cut bell peppers in half lengthwise and remove seeds. Rub inside and out with olive oil, then place, cut side down, in pan, alternating colors. Roast peppers for about 25 minutes, until softened and lightly browned. Remove from oven and reduce oven temperature to 350°.

Heat one tablespoon or so of olive oil in skillet and sauce onions over medium heat until they start to caramelize. Add garlic, cumin, coriander and salt, then stir well. Add carrots, celery, squash and corn. Cover and cook for 10 minutes, until veggies are very tender but not mushy. 

Mix the veggies with the cooked rice and check seasonings. Turn the peppers over and fill each pepper with the rice/veggie mixture. Sprinkle with grated cheese and bake at 350° for 15 minutes, or until cheese is melted.