Kids Dish

The stuffed peppers I’ve had in the past were all sort of terrible. I don’t particularly care for green bell peppers and the rice and beef mixture was almost always bland. My mother-in-law doesn’t even use rice. She just sticks a meatball in a pepper and cooks it in tomato sauce until the pepper is almost unrecognizable. I wanted to make stuffed peppers that still maintained their integrity as peppers, yet had a tasty filling. My original plan was to make stuffed peppers with spinach, feta and tofu but I wanted Sam to enjoy the stuffing (if not the whole pepper) and I know he doesn’t really like feta so I threw caution to the wind and modified a recipe for a traditional beef and rice stuffed pepper. I skipped the spinach, replaced the feta with Monterey Jack, and stuck with the tofu for the protein source. These were pretty good.

Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers

4 medium bell peppers ( I like red), 1/2 inch trimmed off the tops, cores and seeds removed
1/2 cup long grain rice
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion finely chopped
1/2 package of tofu crumbled
3 medium cloves of garlic minced or pressed
1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes drained, 1/4 cup juice reserved
5 ounces Monterey Jack cheese shredded (1 1/4 cups)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup ketchup
ground black pepper

Bring 4 quarts of water to boil in a large stockpot over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon salt and bell peppers. Cook until peppers soften, about 3 minutes. Remove the peppers from the water with a slotted spoon and drain excess water. Place peppers cut side up on paper towels. Return the water to a boil and add the rice. Boil until tender, about 13 minutes. Drain the rice and move to a large bowl.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed skillet over medium high heat. Add the onion and cook until softened and beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Transfer onion and garlic to the bowl with the rice and stir in tomatoes, tofu, one cup of cheese, parsley and salt and pepper to taste.

Stir together the ketchup and remaining tomato juice.

Place the peppers cut side up in a baking dish or tube pan. Dived the filling evenly among the peppers. Top each pepper with ketchup mixture and remaining cheese. Bake until cheese is browned and filling is heated, 25-30 minutes.

If you prefer meat you can add 12 oz ground beef, chicken or lamb and adjust the other ingredients accordingly. I’d use beef with the ingredients as is, chicken with mozzarella and basil, and lamb with feta and cilantro. I don’t have a tube pan, but I used a bundt pan to bake the peppers because they retain their shape and remain upright. Sam did not eat the peppers. But he did, as expected, enjoy the filling. The boy sure does love rice.

stuffed peppers, vegetarian, recipe