Wild and Brown Rice Stuffed Peppers

I love it when my produce and my pantry conspire present me with an obvious dish. This week's CSA share brought us bell peppers, onions, and corn (amongst other things), and as I was putting it all away the last of a block of feta cheese pretty  much leapt out of the refrigerator (along with a jar of peanut butter, but that's another story) and fell at my feet begging to be used.I don't particularly like raw bell peppers, though I adore them roasted, baked and fried, so I promised the feta I'd feature it with the peppers in a hot dish. Then I crammed all of the produce into the fridge and slammed the door and went off to the All Points West festival to see Radiohead.

As an aside, I have to say that I'm getting too damned old for outdoor all day music festivals. It was hot and a long walk from the train into Liberty State Park and it was a long wait for Radiohead, but worth it, as always. My two daughters were with us-- they grew up with Radiohead as background  music-- and very sweetly told their friends they would be hanging out with us for that part of the festival, even though I repeatedly told them I didn't mind if they chose not to. How nice is that?! At their age I'd have rather died than go to a rock concert with my parents.

It was a great show, but a long day and we didn't get home until about 1:00 AM, and I felt ruined on Sunday morning-- sore feet, aching back, and generally washed out.  It was the sort of day that begged for frequent naps and dinner delivered, but I couldn't ignore all that CSA produce and I'd made a promise to the feta.So I shuffled into the kitchen and took stock and then I curled up with a favorite cookbook, The New American Plate. I think I might have dozed off a little, but between naps I found a recipe for stuffed peppers which not only called for feta, but also for fresh corn. And onions! Three CSA items! It also required kidney beans and rice, which were in the cupboard. Perfect! I love it when everything comes together like that.

I adapted the amounts of the ingredients to make considerably more stuffing, as I knew I'd happily toss it into salads and eat it for lunch all week. Don't do what I did and forget to put the tops of the peppers back on before baking-- your kidney beans will go dark and burned-looking (they tasted fine, just looked ugly).

Peppers Stuffed with Rice, Beans and Feta

4 medium bell peppers
1 cup rice, cooked (I used a wild and brown rice mix)
1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 medium onion, chopped
3/4 cup fresh corn kernels
1/2 cup feta, crumbled
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste

Cook the rice and then let it cool.

Prepare the stuffing by mixing the rice with all of the ingredients (except the peppers, of course!). You can do this ahead of time and stick it in your refrigerator until you want to bake the peppers.

To assemble, preheat the oven to 375 F. Cut the tops off the peppers and remove the seeds. Reserve the tops. Spoon the filling into the peppers, packing it lightly, and then replace the pepper tops. Place the stuffed peppers in a baking dish and place it on the middle rack of the oven. Pour about an inch of water around the bottom of the peppers. Bake for about 45 - 50 minutes.

Comments

[Susan from Food Blogga]

Oh, how I love stuffed peppers, with just about any type of filling. And this one with corn and pinto beans is calling my name. Thanks for a new and delicious stuffing, Ann!

[Manggy]

Gosh Anne, I would never have noticed that the top was burned by accident if you hadn't said so :D I LOVE when sweet peppers are roasted! Besides the risotto I really haven't had them classically rice-stuffed, I should really give this a shot!

[dhanggit]

brown rice, beans and feta stuffed in a pepper, what can we ask for more!! my problem when i do stuffed veggies like this my hubby often complaints it's too dry.. i will try to add some water as you :-) hmmm i need to buy brown rice!!

[Giff from Constables Larder]

I've always done this by cutting them in half but I like your presentation better of taking off the tops. Definitely switching to that approach. And interesting idea of adding some liquid directly to the pepper before stuffing, rather than to the mixture before you stuff. Thanks for the recipe. :)

[bee]

so beautiful and wholesome!!!

[Cakespy]

Oh my do those look delicious! They don't look ugly at all to me. Glad you had fun at the concert! I think that outdoor music festivals are one of those things that are awful/awesome at the same time!

[Poonam]

Ohh those yellow peppes look so pretty with that nutritive stuffing!

[JEP]

Love this post! Thanks for the recipe, too. Would it work with partially cooked peppers...just think it would speed up the process or would I lose out on flavor?

[Lydia (The Perfect Pantry)]

Your kids went to a rock concert with you? How cool is that??? The recipe is impressive too!

[grace]

what a great dish! i, for one, don't mind ugly kidney beans.
oh, and i love me some radiohead, and i'm glad you got to enjoy their peaceful and serene music with your daughters. :)

[brilynn]

Looks like it was a pretty great lineup for the All Points West show. The light show for Radiohead was great, wasn't it?

[adele]

These look very wholesome and tasty. I'll have to keep this recipe in mind the next time I'm cooking for vegetarians. :)

[Tom Aarons]

Love these! So cute, and yet so delicious looking!

[Sophie]

I actually made these tonight! I was home alone, and realized I pretty much had all the ingredients necessary (thanks to some fresh corn on the cob from the CSA). The peppers were really good! And it was super quick to prepare, since I already had rice in the fridge.
AND I remembered to cover them :-P
Yours look gorgeous, by the way.

[Shari]

Ooh, that's gorgeous! I'm envious of your CSA! I'll have to look into that more seriously next summer.

[Zita]

Mmm..that stuffed orange pepper looks dashing :)great way to spice up wild rice :)

[noble pig]

This is wonderful I did almost the same thing last night but I had a roll of goat cheese! Good isn't it?

[tartelette]

The recipe sounds and looks wonderful! Cool mom for sure!

[Johanna]

what a great recipe and a great way to recover from a rock concert - I admire your stamina!

[b]

I love it when everything can be found in the cupboard as well...and since stuffed peppers are a favourite I'll set to it:D

[Deeba]

Pretty pretty pretty Ann. How I love it when things come & fall at your feet begging to be used & everything falls into place. Wonderful & delicious! My daughter's at a stage where she would rather I didnt exist so i know what you mean!How sweet your girls are...& I can just about see you nodding off!!! LOL...imagine waking up to stuffed peppers!! YUM!!

[Tom Aarons]

That all sounds like the perfect day. The right ingredients. Radiohead. Delicious food. Wow!

[giz]

I love the way the Feta got humanized - when you made the promise - how did the feta respond? Likely by creating something delicious and outstanding. I also much prefer roasted peppers.

Kudos for hanging in there for the concert.

[Gluten Free Recipes - Mike]

I love stuffed peppers! We have just starting harvesting our peppers for the year, and I am getting ready for the yearly treat of a good stuffed pepper. Nice recipe, and I love the pine-nuts addition.

[maybelles mom (feeding maybelle)]

lovely and so so healthy.