Stuffed Bell Peppers

With all of the things constantly going on at my house, dinner can become monotonous. I mean what kid wants to keep eating rice, broccoli and tofu every night? Okay, my kid does, but I don't. To make dinner more fun and a little less like Groundhog Day, I added stuffed bell peppers to the menu this week!

Yep, stretching out into the world. At first, I was worried that she would freak out on me because it looked scary...but once I convinced her of the muscle-growing, height-inducing magic of this dinner, she was sold. 

Stuffed bell peppers can go many ways. You can throw ground meat, sausage or chicken into them, or you can turn it into a veggie landmine. I chose the landmine.  I stuffed the bell peppers with onion, mushrooms, peas, garlic and couscous...I dashed it with herbs and balsamic to give it some depth, and then threw the dish in the oven. Voila.

The Recipe

Ingredients

• 4 medium green peppers
  
•  2/3 cup split peas
  
•  2 1/4 cups water
  
•  2 tsp vegetable broth mix (or cubes)
  
•  1/2 medium onion, chopped
  
•  1 cup sliced mushrooms 
  
•  3 or 4 cloves garlic, minced
  
•  2 Tbsp Balsamic vinegar
  
•  1/2 tsp cumin
  
•  1/2 tsp dried oregano
  
•  1/2 tsp salt (original recipe had no salt)
  
•  1/2 cup couscous
  
•  2 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped
  

Directions

1.  Remove tops and seeds from green peppers. Stand pepper cups upright in microwave-safe baking dish. Wash and pick over peas. Place in medium saucepan with 1 1/4 cups water and vegetable broth mix. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350F.

2. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, saute onions, garlic, and mushrooms in the balsamic vinegar. Remove from heat and stir in peas, along with cumin, oregano and salt. Set aside.

3. In a small saucepan, bring one cup of water to a boil, add couscous and remove from heat. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Stir into pea-vegetable mixture with half of the tomatoes. Stuff peppers with the mixture, and bake for 10-15 minutes. Top with remaining tomatoes and serve.