Mexican Stuffed Peppers
2 large green bell peppers, halved lengthwise and seeded
2 8 oz cans tomato sauce
1 cup white rice
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup grated cheddar-style soy cheese
1/2 teaspoon cumin
black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon new mexico chili powder
1 tablespoon olive oil
red wine vinegar (optional)
water
Begin by placing bell peppers into a pot of water, just enough to cover them. Boil peppers just until the skin color begins to change to a paler green and they become very slightly tender (about 2-3 minutes). Immediately remove from heat and place peppers in cold water to halt the cooking process.
Meanwhile, sauté onions and rice in olive oil until rice turns white and onions become transparent. Mix one can of tomato sauce with one can of water and add the cumin, pepper to taste, garlic powder, and chili powder. Add mixture to the rice and onions, stir, cover, reduce heat and simmer for approximately 15-20 minutes or until rice is done.
Mix one can tomato sauce with about half a can of water and add to the bottom of a shallow baking dish. (Mix in some vegan red wine vinegar for added flavor if desired).
When rice is done, add half of the cheese and mix. Stuff bell pepper halves with the rice mixture and place in the baking dish. Bake at 350º for about 20 minutes or until heated through. Top with remaining cheese and bake 5 minutes more, or until cheese melts.
Serve topped with the sauce mixture from the bottom of the baking dish.
Recipe can easily be expanded. It can be served alone as a complete meal for 2 people or, with other side dishes accompanying, will serve 4.
SO HOW'D IT GO?
I tweaked this recipe alot based on what I had. I used mexican style soy crumbles and mixed that with brown rice, turmeric, and salsa and stuffed that into the peppers. I topped them with vegan gourmet monterey jack cheese at the end. They were very tasty and moist yummmm!
I only had diced tomatoes, not tomato sauce so that changed the recipe a little. I also did not have soy cheeze and had to use some tofutti creamcheese mixed with a little nutritional yeast. Turned out very good and made it creamy more than cheesy. I was lazy and didn't boil the peppers first and halfway through eating the first one I wished that I had...a little too crunchy. Thanks for the recipe!
I loved this recipe! It also took me awhile to cook it, using instant rice would probably speed it up.
I'm about to try this with two green bell peppers and two red ones. I'm going to replace the rice with a mixture of black beans and chopped spinach, and since we don't seem to have ANY tomato sauce, I'm going to use a can of Rotel instead. I'm excited! :-) Thanks for the recipe!
This recipe is great! I must admit I heavily altered it to suit my family's tastes, however, I give you the full credit. I omitted the cheese and added one block of pressed, firm tofu crumbled and sauted with a package of thawed frozen spinach. I doubled the spices and crammed everything into 5 medium parboiled red peppers.
My mother especially liked this recipee, and she's not a very big fan of "mexican" styled foods! Thank you so much for a creative recipe!
To anyone considering making this, note it took about 2 hours for me to prepare. I am a slowpoke in the kitchen, though.