Stuffed Bell Peppers

Stuff the peppers and place them in a dish with the sauce.

Bake then garnish with scallions.

Ingredients

Filling

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 1/2 onion, diced

• 3 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 tsp red pepper flakes

• 100g brown rice, soaked in water and 1 tbsp vinegar in advance

• 2 tbsp tomato paste

• 1/2 tsp cayenne

• 2 tbsp soy sauce

• 2 cups vegetable broth

• 100g small white beans, cooked if dried

Sauce

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 1/2 onion, diced

• 1 bell pepper, chopped

• 50g cashews

• 1/2 tsp cayenne

• 3 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 14oz can diced tomatoes and juices

Peppers

• 3 bell peppers, halved with seeds removed

• 2-3 scallions, chopped

• Salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Make the filling. Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Add the onions and salt and cook until translucent. Add the garlic and dried chile and cook until fragrant.

2. Drain the brown rice and add it to the pan with the tomato paste and cayenne. Toast the rice for a few minutes.

3. Add the soy sauce and vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Stir in the beans and return to a boil.

4. Decrease the heat, cover, and cook until most of the liquid is evaporated, about 45 minutes. If at 30 minutes there seems to be a lot of liquid left, remove the lid.

5. Meanwhile, make the sauce. Heat the oil in another pan. Add the onions and salt and cook until translucent. Add the pepper, cashews, cayenne, and garlic and cook until fragrant.

6. Add in the tomatoes and cook for a few minutes. Transfer the mixture to a blender and blend until smooth. Add water if the sauce is too thick.

7. Add lemon juice and season to taste with salt, pepper, and cayenne.

8. Assemble the peppers. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Pour enough of the sauce into a baking dish to cover the bottom.

9. Cut tiny slits in the sides of the pepper halves to allow the sauce to enter during baking. Stuff each half pepper with a generous amount of filling and place in the baking dish.

10. Pour the rest of the sauce around the peppers, stopping at 3/4 of the way up the peppers. Reserve any extra sauce. Cover the dish and bake for 45 minutes to an hour.

11. Serve each pepper half by drizzling some of the sauce over the top and garnishing with scallions.