Guess what day it is?!?! I'm pretty sure that I've mentioned that Wednesday is my favorite day. I've probably also mentioned that it's a pretty busy day as well. Wednesdays are my half day at work, and Heath had parkour every Wednesday. I usually get dinner ready before he and I head out, and we have dinner as a family when he and I get home. On the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of each month, I also have Toastmasters meetings. On those nights (like tonight), David takes our son to parkour, and I head out to Toastmasters. We don't get to eat as a family on those nights.
Today was a good day, we are all still processing our events from yesterday, but I was able to get out for a solo hike, and clear my head, and put things into perspective. I picked the kids up from school, we came home and I was able to help them with their homework. After homework, I started making dinner. This recipe is super easy. It seriously takes less than 10 minutes to prepare, and then 30 minutes cooking time. Just enough time to clean up the mess (about 1 mixing bowl). This is one of the recipes I could recite to you if I met you on the street, and you asked me for something good to fix for dinner. The page in the cook book is worn, and wrinkled with food stains on it. I used to make it all the time, and my family (well, except for Kaila) loved it. I think I might have made it one too many times, as it was my go to meatless dish. Whenever David tells me he wants pigs in a blanket for dinner my stomach turns a little bit. Well, whenever I make this for dinner I think the same thing happens to David, and this used to be one of his favorites. I have tried Mexican and other variations on this same recipe by just varying the ingredients, but this one is the easiest.
It took me a while to even decide to make this recipe when I first got the cook book; back in the day when I was growing up, my mom would make stuffed peppers using green bell peppers, ground beef, and rice. The rice on top was always a little crunchy, and I really didn't like them. At all. Maybe that is how I am able to be sympathetic/empathetic when my kids - Kaila won't eat something. I do think that sometimes she does take advantage of the situation though. Pick your battles is my mantra. I'd rather her miss a meal, than to develop and eating issue in the future.
I do make a few changes to the recipe, which I will note after I post the recipe. This one came from a cook book by Judie Byrd, founder of Super Suppers. The book is titled Super Suppers Cookbook 2.
The recipe is on page 100.
Stuffed Roasted Peppers & Onions
Makes: 6 servings
1 15 oz can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
12 cherry tomatoes
1 C prepared basil pesto
1 C crumbled goat cheese or feta cheese
1/4 C sliced, pitted black olives
3 medium green, and/or yellow bell peppers, halved and seeded
2 medium red onions, quartered lengthwise
4 medium tomatoes, halved
olive oil
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a large roasting pan with cooking spray, set aside
2. In a large bowl, combine drained beans, cherry tomatoes, pesto, cheese, olives, and salt and pepper to taste. Fill bell peppers with bean mixture, place in prepared pan. Arrange onion quarters and tomato halves around stuffed peppers. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with the 1 tsp salt and the 1/2 tsp pepper.
3. Bake 30 minutes or until onions are tender and golden brown.
I don't roast the onions and the tomatoes. I do put the cherry tomatoes in the bean mixture, I just don't like cooked tomatoes (I think I mentioned that in the post with the prosciutto wrapped egg muffins). Also, no one will eat the roasted onions or the roasted tomatoes, and I don't want to waste food, so I just leave them out. That also saves me some time = bonus! Some other things I do differently are that I use red bell peppers, and I don't add the salt and pepper to either the bean mixture or on top of the prepared peppers. I also do not drizzle the top with olive oil. I figure there is enough oil in the pesto, and I just never got into the habit of adding salt to anything I cook unless it's a large enough amount to make a significant difference in taste. In my opinion, the olives and the feta cheese are salty enough to leave out the addition of more salt.
I hope you enjoy this one as much as I do.
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