Bell Pepper Deliciousness!

As a kid I hated bell peppers! Every time my mom would make Spanish rice with peppers I would cringe.  Well, I hate to admit it, but now I love them!!!  But I must clarify, I love my organic bell peppers, the ones from the store are so flavorless, bitter and give me a stomach ache.  So imagine my delight when I saw this week I had gorgeous bell peppers to enjoy!  These peppers are just so amazing.  One recipe I had wanted to try for years is stuffed peppers.  The only problem was most recipes had meat in them or were weak on flavor.  This inspired me to make a vegetarian version (for those of us who are too lazy to cook meat in the summer!) and I think you will really enjoy this Mediterranean style stuffed pepper. :)   In my version I have used bulgar wheat.  This grain is high in protein and a delicious replacement for ground meat in this dish since it has a similar texture.  The best thing about it is that you cook it like you do couscous.   Simply pour boiling water over it, put a lid on it and let it absorb for a little while.  Very simple.  Happy eating!

Mediterranean Stuffed Peppers

PREHEAT OVEN TO 350
4 bell peppers
1 cups bulgar wheat
1/2 red onion (or yellow if you don;t have red) finely chopped
2 small/medium zucchini, chopped
10 cherry tomatoes, or one big tomato chopped
handful of chopped parsley
2 carrots grated
15 kalamata olives, cut in fourths
6 oz. crumbled feta cheese
4 TBSP.  grated quattro fromage, or other grated cheese
1 TBSP olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

1. Begin by cutting the tops off the peppers and cleaning out the inside.  I like to slightly cut the bottoms of the peppers to make them stable in the pan.  Then spray a 9 in square pan with oil and place the four peppers in the pan.
2. Prepare the bulgar wheat. Place 1 C. of bulgar wheat in a saucepan and pour 1 1/2 C. boiling water over the bulgar and put the lid on for about 20-30 minutes to soak.
3. Saute the onion, zucchini, tomato, and carrots until cooked.  Stir in parsley, bulgar wheat, olives and feta and stir until well combined.  Then turn down the heat to low, out the lid on the pan and cook for about 5 minutes.
4.Stuff the peppers with the mixture.  Be sure to really stuff them.  Then top with a tablespoon of grated cheese. 
5. Cover with foil and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Enjoy!