Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers

You can put just about anything in stuffed peppers.  Lately I have been experimenting with soy crumbles in place of ground beef. 


Ingredients:
4 to 6 bell peppers (green, yellow, or red)                                   
1 1/2 cups jasmine rice
Half a bag of soy crumbles-I prefer morning star over boca
4 oz. goat cheese
Half a jar of tomato sauce (your choice) I use spagetti sauce
2 cloves fresh garlic-minced
Salt and pepper
1cup shredded monterey jack cheese
1 tspn cayenne pepper
Optional-roasted corn
Optional-fresh chopped basil

This is one of my favorite recipes to make!  I usually throw in whatever I have on hand, but these ingredients make the best stuffed peppers.  I also love replacing ground beef or turkey with the Morning Star soy crumbles.  Ground beef and turkey are high in fat and calories.  Soy crumbles have lower calories and fat than even the lean ground meats, but using real meat won't take away from this recipe.

Directions: Preheat oven to 375
Sautee garlic in a tspn of olive oil over medium low heat.  Add corn (I use fresh corn uncooked that I cut right off the cob.  Cook for 2 mins and then add your soy crumbles for another 5-7 mins.  Transfer mixture to a mixing bowl and add in the rest of the ingredients (excluding monterey jack).  Use only half of your tomato sauce, and save 1/4 cup for the topping. 
Wash peppers and pat dry with a paper towel.  Cut peppers lengthwise in half and take out seeds (I found that the traditional method of cutting just the tops off the peppers makes them watery inside).  Fill with mixture and top with 1/4 cup tomato sauce of your choice.  Bake at 375 for 20 mins and then remove from oven.  Top each pepper with the monterey jack cheese and continue to bake for another 10 mins.  Let cool for a few minutes before eating.