Stuffed peppers

Strict-Fast Optional

Ingredients

• 5 peppers (green, red, orange, yellow – you choose!), cleaned out & cut in half lengthwise
• ¼ c. olive oil (or 1/3 c. veg. broth)
• 1 onion, chopped
• ¼ c. chopped fresh parsley (or 1 TBS dried)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 14 oz. can tomatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 c. uncooked rice
• 1 c. vegetable broth or water
• 1 can cannellini beans (or 1 can corn)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Arrange halved peppers in bottom of 9x12 baking dish
3. Saute onions in oil, medium heat, until softened, 3-5 min. If using vegetable broth instead, simmer.
4. Add parsley & garlic, continue to cook 2 minutes.
5. Add tomatoes, blend well.
6. Add rice, salt & pepper, mix.
7. Gently add beans or corn and vegetable broth.
8. Spoon into pepper halves. Place extra in the baking dish around the peppers.
9. Pour ½ - 1 c. water over peppers and cook for approximately 1 hour (until rice is done). Cover with aluminum foil and remove it the last 15 minutes (or if your family like it “crunchy”, don’t put any foil on it).

Note: this is a great dish to throw in other vegetables, too – eggplant and zucchini are great for stuffing. Tomatoes make a nice addition: After you put the rice mixture in the peppers, slice some tomato wedges and nestle them between the peppers. They will roast while cooking.

Adapted from Food for Paradise by St. John the Russian Orthodox Church