Vegan Stuffed Peppers - Israeli Style

Vegan stuffed peppers are colorful, tasty, and nutritious. I love this easy Israeli-style recipe that I originally tasted and then recorded when I visited my sister-In Law on our recent trip to Israel (June 2023). 

Middle Eastern recipes call for lots of health-giving flavorful spices. My SIL uses fresh garlic, fresh cilantro (you could substitute parsley), fresh lemon juice, mild jalapeño pepper, and chopped Roma tomatoes. 

She adds all the herbs, spices, and juice to uncooked rice, stirs and allows it to marinate for an hour before stuffing and cooking the peppers. 

I was in Whole Foods Market the other day and I spied a bag of  orange, red, and yellow organic bell peppers. The price was right- $5 for the bag entire bag of seven peppers. (Two years ago I might have thought it was pricey, but I've become accustomed to the escalation of our food prices). As soon as I saw them, I knew I wanted to make stuffed peppers.

The peppers were rather easy to make once the stuffing was marinating. I simply cut off the top of each pepper, cleaned out the seeds, and added the rice mixture to each pepper. 

However, I made some additions to my SIL's original recipe. 

There was much more than this. I forgot to take the photo until after I had already started 
stuffing the peppers!

Why? 

The produce (which is grown and harvested in Israel) is much tastier than the produce in the US that is shipped here from all over the world and picked before it is ripened. I felt I needed to add some ingredients to my recipe to enhance the flavors somewhat.

I cooked the stuffed peppers on the stovetop in a deep skillet (covered) until the rice was well cooked.

Once the stuffed peppers were fully cooked and the flavors blended together, I transferred the peppers and sauce to a casserole dish for serving.

I ate these hearty peppers with other cooked vegetables, but you could use them as a side dish as your starch.  

Ingredients: 

7 colorful medium bell peppers 

2 cups of white rice, washed well (you could sub brown rice)

2 cups of chopped fresh cilantro (or parsley)

1/2 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice 

2 cups of chopped Roma plum tomatoes (about 4 tomatoes)

5 cloves of fresh garlic, pressed 

1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder 

1 jar of chunky mild salsa

1 20 ounce jar of marinara sauce ( I use Whole Foods365 organic fat free)

2 cups of water. 

Directions: 

Wash the peppers, slice off the top, clean out the seeds and set aside. 

Place the rice, cilantro, tomatoes garlic, garlic powder, in a bowl and mix well. Allow to sit for 1 hour to marinate.

When done marinating, add the salsa and mix. Stuff the peppers with this mixture and place in a small dutch oven type pot or deep skillet. Cover with marinara sauce and water. Bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer, covered for about 45 minutes (check to prevent burning adding 1/4 cup of water if needed) or until all rice is soft. Remove from the dutch oven pot or skillet and place in a casserole dish to serve. 

My Notes: 

When our Israeli relatives visit us, they are always baffled by our grocery store produce which is not usually locally in season. It looks so good, but it doesn't always have much of a flavor. For example, peaches, strawberries, tomatoes. In Israel, the produce is grown locally and usually picked ripe, so the flavors are always like a backyard summer tomato here. (Israel has a warm climate and is a small country about the size of New Jersey)

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This recipe is a whole food plant-based oil-free recipe that is also gluten free. All of my recipes on my blog are gluten-free. They have always been vegetarian and as of 2021 they are vegan and oil-free

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A Thought for Stressful Times

Stress depletes our body's reserves of vitamins. I was reading that at times of high stress, it is important to take extra vitamin C and zinc ( always check with your doctor first) and B vitamins. Of course sleep is also essential too; it is when our body heals.