Stuffed Peppers
Total time: 65 minutes Active time: 30 minutes
Yield: 8 stuffed peppers
Ingredients:
8 green or any color bell peppers
2 tablespoon butter
2 medium sliced onions
1 cup sliced celery
1/4 lb mushrooms; sliced
4 cups canned pinto or black beans or cannellini; drained, flaked
1/2 lb cheddar cheese (reserve 1/8 cup for topping)
1/2 tsp basil or 1/4 cup fresh basil (can also add some fresh parsley if you have it)
1 tsp chili powder
salt and pepper; to taste (see notes)
2 cups tomato sauce
1. Chop onion. (Optionally place chopped onion in a bowl with cold water for 30 minutes to make it more digestible. You can use this trick with any recipe.)
2. Core, seed and remove membranes from peppers. Chop celery. Slice mushrooms if needed.
3. Melt butter in skillet and sauté onion and celery until onions are transparent. Add mushrooms and sauté about 5 minutes.
4. In a bowl, mash beans; add cheese, onions, celery, mushrooms and spices; mix well.
5. Stuff peppers with bean mixture. Place peppers in baking dish, cover with tomato sauce and bake at 350 F about 30 minutes, add reserved cheese and bake for 5 more minutes until heated through.
Notes: I used beans with no salt added and added 1/2 tsp salt. You can also substitute some beans with corn.
