Stuffed Bell Peppers

Stuffed Bell Peppers

(I made a single stuffed pepper for myself, however you can adjust this recipe accordingly to make more servings)

what you need:

• 1 large bell pepper (I used green)
• 1 small or medium onion (depends on how much you like)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 can organic diced tomatoes in Italian seasoning (drain most of the liquid)
• 1/2 cup instant brown rice (and enough water to microwave the rice)
• 1/4 cup marinara sauce*
• a few teaspoons Italian seasoning blend

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Fill a soup pot with a few cups of water, and turn on high heat until it begins to boil. Add cleaned pepper with top and insides removed to the pot, and boil for about 15 minutes until the pepper begins to soften.
3. While the pepper is boiling, dice the onion and garlic, sautee in a pan with a little olive oil for a few minutes until transluscent. Add the diced tomatoes and stir, heat thoroughly.
4. In a microwave safe bowl, add the Italian seasoning to the rice, add water and microwave (my rice called for 1/2 cup water) until done (3 minutes).
5. Add to the tomato/onion/garlic mixture in the pan and stir well.
6. Scoop the rice mixture from the pan into the pepper. Use any excess mixture to line the bottom of a small baking dish, set pepper on top, and bake 30-45 minutes or until the pepper wrinkles a little and changes color.

* I highly modified this recipe from a fruit-stuffed pepper recipe in The Vegetarian Times. The original recipe called for tomato juice but I didn't have any, so I used seasoned marinara and it tasted AMAZING.