If you’ve ever thought vegetarian main dishes are boring, TRY THIS RECIPE! These couscous-stuffed peppers are so hearty, filling and flavorful…full of veggies, herbs and healthy grains and proteins. Plus they’re served on top of a creamy spinach-basil sauce just so they’re not too healthy.
I saw Giada making these on one of her cooking shows and immediately couldn’t get them out of my head! She used the little Middle Eastern-style couscous, which are tiny steamed balls of semolina flour; I’m obsessed with pasta so I subbed in Israeli couscous, which is a toasted pasta shaped like little pearls. You can use either, but cooking times will vary with the traditional couscous.
These babies are full of veggies and grains, with Isreali couscous, spinach, summer squash, chickpeas, feta, parsley and dried currants. A little veggie stock helps steam the peppers and soften the flesh and skin. The sauce is really fresh, bright and tangy-a perfect foil for the hearty, healthy peppers. You could certainly add shredded or diced cooked chicken if you wanted to make these for meat-eaters.
Unless you REALLY love green peppers, I wouldn’t recommend using them. The flavor profile is completely different than sweet red, yellow or orange peppers, and I think you’d be missing some of the magic of these if you use green peppers.
These are a great vegetarian option for meatless Mondays or dinner parties, especially if you’re searching for tasty vegetarian options that are satisfying and filling too. These could even be assembled a day or two before and baked off at dinnertime for a great make-ahead meal.
[tasty-recipe id=”36123″]
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