My mom used to make a classic ground beef version of this when I was growing up and we always loved it. It was one of those never-miss dishes, and yet I've never made it as an adult. I thought that I would come up with a vegetarian version (also vegan, gluten-free and low-fat!), picking a few of my favourite things and going from there. Feel free to change the chickpeas to lentils or some other bean of choice. Not a fan of paprika? Add another spice that suits you better. You could easily take any country and use ingredients and spices from there as inspiration. In fact, I think I'll do this myself.
This is a great dish to make for kids. Scarlet, my one year old, isn't (yet) a bit fan of chickpeas so she didn't like that part. So I would put lentils in next time (or kidney beans, she loves kidney beans!). As mentioned above, it was always a favourite of mine when growing up. You could even get those kids that are old enough to help you stuff the peppers, or maybe have them come up with their own combinations to stuff the peppers with. If you do this with more than one child, perhaps use cocktail toothpicks or something along those lines (or have each child pick a particular colour of pepper to stuff) to mark the peppers so they can pick out their creation when they come out of the oven.
Below I have described the steps to make these by baking them in the oven. You could easily adapt this to a slow cooker/crock pot. To do this I would skip the initial step of boiling or steaming the peppers for a few minutes prior to stuffing and baking. I'll do another version of these using my slow cooker and update you when I do. This makes a huge batch of filling, enough for 7 to 8 peppers depending on their size, at least. If you would rather not have so much, cut the quantities in half.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of rice, cooked (brown, white or basmati) (1 to 1 1/4 cups uncooked rice)
- 6 to 8 bell peppers (try using a mixture of colours for visual appeal and a bit of variation in taste). One can be chopped and included in the stuffing.
- 1 medium-sized onion (about 1 cup/250 ml)
- 1 cup (250 ml) of chickpeas or 1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup chopped tomatoes or chopped tinned tomatoes (or use one medium-sized can of tomatoes)
- 2 to 3 tablespoons (30 to 45 ml) tomato paste or sauce (I used paste). Use more than this if you like.
- 4 carrots (2 cups, 500 ml), finely chopped
- 1/2 bunch of fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) paprika
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) olive oil
- 3 to 4 garlic cloves, chopped or minced
- 1 cup (250 ml) fresh bread crumbs (or less if you prefer less of this topping)
- salt and pepper to taste
Method:
Start off by getting the rice cooked and ready to use, using your rice cooker or a suitable saucepan on the stovetop.
Rinse the bell peppers and slice the top off of each, about an inch down. Remove the stem, seeds and white ribs from the inside of each using a spoon and/or knife. If they do not sit flat, slice a little bit off of the bottom.
Bring some water to a boil in a medium-sized saucepan (enough so that the peppers can be mostly emersed in it). Add the peppers (in batches if necessary) to the boiling water, cut side up, and simmer for about 10 minutes. You may also use a steamer to do this. You're aiming just to soften the peppers up a little bit.
While the peppers are simmering or steaming on the stovetop preheat the oven to 350⁰ F (180⁰ C).
Chop the onions, carrots (and one bell pepper if adding).
Rinse and finely chop the parsley.
Finely chop or mince the fresh garlic.
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive or vegetable oil in a medium to large frying pan/skillet over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, bell pepper and carrots and stir until the onions are soft and the carrots are beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
If making the breadcrumbs, make them now. Toast a few pieces of crust or bread slices. Grind into bread crumbs using a coffee grinder, food processor or hand blender.
Mix the breadcrumbs with a tablespoon of paprika and a tablespoon of olive oil to make your topping. Set aside.
Remove the steamed bell peppers from the saucepan, drain and set aside.
If using canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans) drain and rinse them. If using dried chickpeas you'll need to have them cooked so they are tender and ready to use at this point.
In a large bowl, mix together the chickpeas, rice, carrots, bell pepper, onion, garlic, tomatoes, paprika, parsley, salt and pepper.
Place the peppers cut side up in a lightly greased casserole dish. Stuff the peppers with the rice chickpea mixture pressing down when you have added enough to fill the inside of each pepper. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture over top. Drizzle some olive oil over top of all of the peppers. Cover with foil or a lid.
Place the casserole dish on the middle rack in the preheated oven. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the cover (lid or foil) and bake for a further 10 to 15 minutes, a total of 30 to 35 minutes, until the bread crumb topping is a bit crisp looking.
To make this a non-vegetarian meal you might add baked chicken breasts, halibut or spicy sausages. Extra mix? I had enough to freeze a batch for an easy mid-week dinner, and then some. I froze some mix on its own, and a few cooked, stuffed peppers. The leftovers would also taste great with a can of tuna mixed in for a low fat, healthy lunch, or mixed with eggs or tofu for a hearty breakfast!
Do you have a favourite stuffed pepper recipe? I'd love to hear about it!
Printer-friendly recipe
