Mediterranean Style Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed peppers are fun, especially in the summer if you are able to find giant peppers.  These peppers are filled Mediterranean style: with bulgar, chickpeas, zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes, and feta cheese.  The filling is spiced with fennel, which adds a great flavor.  This dish is vegetarian as written, but crumbled italian sausage would be a delicious addition to the filling if you have any.  This would make a great summertime meal with fresh vegetables from the garden!  Or, if you are wishing for summertime, it's a great meal to give you a taste of summer!

The tricky part of making stuffed peppers is finding the perfect giant peppers.  You won't necessarily be able to find them (especially on the day you really want them!).  In that case, just get the biggest peppers you can find.  A variety of colors makes it fun.  If you have extra filling, you can always bake it separately (as shown above), and serve along side the peppers.  No big deal!

As written, this recipe serves 4 as a main dish (although it might be hard to find 4 peppers big enough to hold all the filling!) with a salad on the side.  This would also make a great side dish or light lunch for 6 (with smaller peppers).  One great thing about stuffed peppers is that they are individually packaged servings.  That means you can freeze these peppers to have for meals later on.  Once the peppers are cool, wrap in plastic wrap and store in a freezer bag.   I tested this out to have a stuffed pepper for lunch and it worked well!

Mediterranean Style Stuffed Peppers

serves: 4 as a main course or 6 as a side or small meal

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 cup course ground bulgar wheat
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 4 extra large or 6 regular bell peppers (a variety of colors is nice!)
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
• 6-8 ounces zucchini, quartered then sliced thinly
• 6-8 ounces yellow squash, quartered then sliced thinly
• 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, quartered
• 1 3/4 cups cooked chickpeas (or 1 15 ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained)
• 4-6 ounces feta cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1)  Preheat oven to 350F.  

2)  In a small pot, combine vegetable broth and bulgar.   Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and cover.  Cook for about 15 minutes until water is absorbed.  Once cooked, stir in tomato paste and set aside.

3)  Coat a small baking dish with cooking spray.  Cut the tops off of the peppers and pull out all seeds and insides.  Place peppers in the baking dish and cook them in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.  Remove from the oven.

4) Heat olive oil in a large skillet.  Add onion, zucchini, yellow squash, fennel seeds, oregano, and salt.  Cook, stirring often, until the vegetables are softened and slightly brown (about 5 minutes).  Remove from heat and stir in the  tomatoes, chickpeas, and bulgar (with tomato paste mixed in).  Crumble most of the feta cheese and stir in.  Reserve some of the cheese to put on top.

5)  Fill the peppers with the bulgar mixture.  If you have any extra filling, put it in another baking dish.  Bake for 15 minutes. 

6)  Serve immediately with additional feta cheese.  Or... to save for later: Cool completely, wrap each pepper in plastic wrap, put in a freezer bag, and freeze.  To serve, defrost in the refrigerator and reheat in the microwave or oven.  

(recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen)