Stuffed Peppers

I had a few things in the fridge I wanted to use up, so I decided to stuff some peppers. I always hesitate to make them because they feel like too many steps, but it worked out to be worth it, in my opinion!

Ingredients
4 large bell peppers, any color - make sure they stand upright for best results
1 cup cooked orzo, mixed with 1/2 TBS olive oil or margarine
1 TBS olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 medium zucchini, peeled and diced
1 medium summer squash, peeled and diced
9 white mushrooms, stemmed and diced
3 TBS chopped kalamata olives
1/3 cup red wine
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (more or less, to taste)
1 tsp Herbes de Provence (I added more to taste, about another 1/2 tsp)
1/2 tsp mushroom salt (or regular if you don't have mushroom)
2 cups marinara sauce

1 recipe macadamia cream
(1 cup macadamia nuts, 1/2 cup water, 2 tsp lemon juice, and 1/4 tsp salt blended until rich and creamy)


Bring a large pot of water to a boil. While that's coming to temperature, carefully cut the stem off each pepper (it's like cutting the stem off of a jack o' lantern, but easier). carefully pull out seeds and pith, leaving the pepper intact.Boil each pepper for about 3 minutes, then set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350.

Put the olive oil and onion in a large pan over medium-high heat, and cook until translucent, about 7 minutes. Add in garlic, zucchini, and summer squash and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring frequently to avoid burning. Toss in the mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the wine, red pepper, Herbes de Provence, and olives and cook for a few more minutes, then add in the orzo for 2 more minutes, stirring often.

Place one cup of marinara sauce in the bottom of an 8x8 baking dish, then put the peppers on top of that, upright. Fill each pepper with 1/4 (about 1.25 cups) of the vegetable-orzo mix, then add 1/4 cup of marinara sauce, then 2 TBS of macadamia cream.

Bake for 30 minutes at 350, then turn the oven to broil and broil for a few minutes to get a little charring.

Serve by scooping 1/4 of the marinara from the pan and pouring it on top of the pepper.

They're heavy enough that one pepper is a solid meal. You can round it out with a nice salad if you want, but these are very satisfying on their own.

Nutrition, per pepper

Calories: 404
Fat: 24 g
Carbs: 36 g
Fiber: 11 g (42%)
Sugars: 8.6
Protein: 9.5 g
Vitamin A: 19%
Vitamin C: 336%
Calcium: 6%
Iron: 38%