Upside-Down Stuffed Peppers with Vegetarian Stuffing

Is it so wrong that I fancy myself a genius for cooking the peppers on top of the stuffing?  The peppers get more roasted, the rice stays moister, they are easier to stuff, and the half-pepper is a better portion for a side dish.

This is really two recipes in one.  First I'll tell you about the stuffing, a pilaf which is an excellent balanced food for vegetarians.  Then I'll tell you about the stuffed peppers.  You can serve the pilaf by itself, or stuff the peppers with waterever mostly-cooked grains you have.

Vegetarian Pilaf

You don't have to make exactly this, but this is what I did.  It made enough to stuff about 8 peppers cut in half, for about 12 people as a side dish.  The addition of quinoa and walnuts makes this even good as a filling main course for vegans and it stays moist when served cold.

1. I started by cooking 1 cup of quinoa and 1 cup of rice in four cups of water.  Start boiling all the water, then add the longer-cooking grain first.  Check the package directions to appropriately stagger the cook times of whatever grains you want.

2. Then I fried the ingredients below in a large pan.  I used my food processor to chop most of the ingredients.  Stagger the ingredients to cook in the following order:

red onion and sweet onion
2 carrots
2-3 cloves of garlic
package of button mushrooms
1 cup raw walnuts

3. When the grains are tender and have absorbed water, add grains to the pan, season, and mix.


Stuffed Peppers

1. Wash peppers.  Using a small sharp knife, carefully cut around the pepper stem.  Then cut in half and remove seeds and white membrane.

2. Stuff peppers, making sure to get the stuffing into the nooks.  Over fill.  Carefully flip peppers upside-down onto a well greased pan.  Your pepper should be sitting on a mound of stuffing.

3. Bake or broil close to 200 F or 400 C until the peppers start to brown, or beyond, your choice. 
4. To serve, put a large spoon on top and slide a spatula underneath, then carefully flip pepper-side down onto individual plates or a serving platter.  You could also serve upside down with a spatula.

The peppers do well if you need to keep them in a warm over or rewarm for guests.  These are even good cold!  I ate one today covered in homemade guacamole (post coming soon).