Vegetarian Challenge

By Rhonda Gail, on 01.28.10

A week or so ago, a friend posted on Facebook something about doing a 30-day vegetarian challenge. I asked her what her reasons were. After hearing her reasons and doing some research, I was drawn in by the promise of feeling better overall at the end of the 30 days. I have always been a fan of veggies and eating only small amounts of meat, so I decided I could do this! I am now 5 days in and not missing meat at all! We have discovered some really good recipes throughout the process. My favorite so far is “Stuffed Peppers My Way” from allrecipes.com user Sandy. The recipe is as follows:

Ingredients

1 cup water
1/2 cup uncooked Arborio rice
2 green bell peppers, halved and seeded
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
1 pinch ground black pepper
1 tomato, diced
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet.
In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil. Stir in the rice. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat, and set aside.
Place the peppers cut-side down on the prepared baking sheet. Roast 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until tender and skin starts to brown.
While the peppers are roasting, heat oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the onions, basil, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper in oil for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the tomato, and cook for 5 minutes. Spoon in the cooked rice, and stir until heated through. Remove from heat, mix in the feta cheese, and spoon the mixture into the pepper halves.
Return to the oven for 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

901 Vegetarian Challenge

We made a few modifications. We used both green and red bell peppers, and found the red to be way better. They were just more flavorful. We also used brown Minute rice instead of the pricey Arborio rice (that stuff is like $8 a jar!). It was seriously so delicious that we are making it for a second time this week tomorrow!