Simply Impressive

by motherofwonder on July 28, 2011

Yesterday, my hair dresser/brother-in-law came over to #1) Give hubbyman a haircut! (He’s in a wedding this weekend, and we’d like a little less shaggydoo for it) and #2) To have me make him a wonderful vegan meal! So I am made stuffed peppers! I found hundreds of recipes, so I did my usual (look hundreds of recipes over, decide I only like one ingredient from each recipe) and combined them all…

So, here is today’s version of stuffed peppers, which in my opinion ALWAYS look impressive- no matter what you’ve put into them. And the more you put into them, the more impressive they sound!

Take 3 large, red, sweet peppers (you can use any kind, I love the flavor of red and orange, personally), cut the top off and take seeds out.

You can cook this in a 5qt slow cooker (mine is too big!), so I just did them in a 2 1/2 qt dish. Basically you want it big enough that everything fits and you can still get a lid on, but small enough that they don’t move or slide around. So whatever size that may be for you (which will of course depend on how many peppers you make as well. I’d of made more, but we’re leaving for out of town tomorrow and worried they’d go bad… and then I found out they’re great to freeze, so now I wish I would have made a couple more!!). Anyways, put peppers in dish, and set aside.

1 cup cooked rice (or quinoa)

1/2 onion

1/2 yellow zucchini, sliced

1 1/2 cups spinach

1 cup mushrooms

3 cloves garlic

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

3/4 cup spaghetti sauce (meatless)

1/2 cup of water

*While I had the rice cooking, I threw the spinach, onion, garlic, and mushrooms in some olive oil and sauteed. This next step you probably don’t have to do, but for consistency’s sake I threw it all in my food processor (just so it was more uniform, not to puree it).

Next mix rice, sauteed veggies, salt, pepper, and any other herbs you’d like to throw in (I threw in a pinch of oregano and basil) in a large bowl. This is what the kids had for dinner- it was so, so, so very yummy. I added in a pinch of cheese thinking it would need it, (don’t get me wrong, it was fantastic with it) but it was really good even without the cheese. Seriously, like it would be a terrific side in any meal, not just stuffed in peppers. So good. (Can you tell that I liked it, and was very impressed with my creation?)

Stuff rice mixture in the peppers. You don’t have to pack it in, but fill it. Next mix the water and spaghetti sauce, pouring half into the bottom of the dish and the rest over/in the peppers.I topped with quarters of the squash and threw some into the sauce in the bottom as well. For color and taste! I cooked covered at 375 for 30 minutes and then uncovered at 350 for 10 minutes.

So good! Hubbyman declared it the best began meal he’d ever had! If not making it vegan, I probably would have thrown cheese into the rice mixture. This would be a great option for a Meatless Monday meal! Have to have meat in it? I think it would go really well with a shredded chicken.