Gorgonzola & Black Rice Stuffed Peppers

Growing up, I never really liked my mom’s stuffed peppers (sorry Mom). I’m not sure what it was about the combination of tomato, rice and beef, but it was never appealing as a kid. Now, I enjoy those flavors more, but when it comes to stuffing veggies I like to branch out and try some different combinations.

I picked up some green bell peppers at the market last week. While the red and yellow varieties are much more to my liking, I often buy green to toss in recipes and to top our salads. Bell peppers in general are full of vitamin C and vitamin A, and I figure a few extra antioxidants here and there certainly can’t hurt.

I also learned an interesting tidbit of info when I was refreshing my nutrient knowledge. By the way, I typically research foods on WHFoods.com. It is such a great site that pulls together the latest research articles on all kinds of foods. Anyway, apparently bell peppers contain a recessive gene that eliminates the compound capsaicin which is responsible for heat in other varieties of peppers. I guess I found this especially interesting because I’m not all that familiar with the dominant and recessive genes of my fruits and veggies.

Moving on. Instead of adding these peppers to another dish, I decided a stuffed pepper sounded good for dinner last night. Given my so-so view of the traditional stuffed pepper, I took stock of what I had available and got to work. I had some black rice that needed to be used up. I love Gorgonzola cheese with walnuts so that gave me the idea that the nuttiness of the black rice might go well with a sprinkle of the cheese.

What I ended up with was a green bell pepper stuffed with black and long grain white rice, topped with savory Gorgonzola. The flavors went so well together – lightly nutty and salty with a touch of sweetness from the pepper.

I have a feeling this will now be my go-to recipe for stuffed peppers. My husband enjoyed it because the texture had a hearty, meaty taste without the dish actually containing meat. It is an ideal meat-free dish to incorporate into your week.

Gorgonzola & Black Rice Stuffed Peppers

4 small round green bell peppers, or two longer peppers
1 cup cooked long grain rice (wild or brown would work too)
¼ cup onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
¾ cup bread crumbs (white, wheat, spelt)
¼ cup chicken stock
½ cup cooked black rice
1 egg, beaten
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
2 oz Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and lightly coat the surface of a square glass baking dish with olive oil. In a large bowl mix together the white rice, onion, garlic and bread crumbs. Add in the chicken stock (or use water if you prefer a vegetarian option) and stir to moisten. Stir in the black rice (this will turn the mixture a dark purple). Mix in the egg and season with salt and pepper. If the mixture is too dry to stuff the peppers add a little more chicken stock.

Cut the tops off of your 4 round peppers or split your 2 longer peppers in halves. Clean out the seeds and large veins. Place them in the greased baking dish and fill each with the rice mixture. Top each with an equal amount of the cheese by pressing the crumbles into the rice. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes, until the pepper begins to brown and is tender. Serves 4.