Growing up in a Greek family, there was no shortage of delicious, traditional and Greek inspired dishes at mealtime. My mom has an amazing recipe for greek style rice and ground beef stuffed peppers and tomatoes that are one of my favorite meals. Her recipe calls for the rice to be added to the stuffing uncooked and then it’s baked for a long time, to where the peppers get very soft. I came across this recipe and was excited to try it as it sounded very similar but without the meat, and it adds in garbanzos and feta. It cooks a short time, so I figured the peppers would retain some of their crunch, which I prefer.

This was so tasty and quite filling, I couldn’t finish my two halves. The garbanzos bring an almost meaty texture and the chunks of tomato are so sweet and they burst in your mouth. Of course, the feta was a perfect addition as my mom always serves feta on the side with her stuffed peppers, which I like having with almost every bite. I am for sure going to make this again, playing around with the different filling elements and possibly stuffing tomatoes with it as well. I was thinking that some chopped kalamata olives would go great in the stuffing as well. Yum.

Brown Rice & Garbanzo Stuffed Green Peppers
serves 3-6
Adapted from Fresh365

1 c brown rice, cooked
3 large organic bell peppers
2 t olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 cup of baby bella mushrooms, chopped
2 t fresh thyme leaves
1/2 t salt
1 c plum tomatoes, quartered
3 T tomato paste
15.5-oz can organic low sodium chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 c crumbled feta cheese

Preheat oven to 350F. Cook your brown rice according to package directions. While rice is cooking, cut the peppers in half length-wise, remove the stems and scoop out the seeds. Place peppers cut side up in a non-stick baking dish, drizzle with olive oil and roast for 25 minutes.

In a large skillet, heat oil and add onion, garlic, mushrooms, thyme, and salt. Cook, stirring frequently, 5 minutes or until vegetables are softened. Remove from heat and stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, chickpeas, cooked rice and feta. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Fill roasted peppers with the vegi-rice mixture. Bake 10-15 minutes. Sprinkle remaining feta on top.

Serve 1 half as a side or 2 halves as a main course.