Many people are vegetarian for various reasons. Our latest with a delicious recipe is guaranteed to warm you up and is full of protein and full of taste.

Theresa Desai, Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Educator at NorthShore, shares her recipe for meatless stuffed peppers – providing an abundance of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory benefits.

Recipe makes 6 servings
Ingredients
3 Bull Nose sweet bell peppers (13oz)
2 cups tomato sauce (or prepared marinara sauce)
1/3 cup dry bulgur
2/3 cup vegetable broth
1 tbsp olive oil
½ of a white onion, chopped (4.8 oz)
5 button mushrooms, chopped (4 oz)
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tbsp parsley, finely chopped (0.2oz)
1-2 tbsp pine nuts, toasted
1 cup canned kidney beans, washed and drained
1 oz of Parmesan cheese

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350⁰F.
• Cut each of the peppers in half vertically and remove the stems and the seeds.
• Pour the tomato or marinara sauce into a large baking dish.
• Place each of the pepper halves (skin side down) into the tomato or marinara sauce and bake for 20 minutes.
• In a small saucepan, combine the bulgur with the vegetable broth. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 10 to 12 minutes or until tender.
• While the bulgur is cooking, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over a medium-high flame. Sauté the onion, mushrooms and garlic until lightly browned and fragrant (about 5 minutes).
• To prepare the stuffing, add the cooked bulgur, parsley, pine nuts and kidney beans to the onion and mushroom mixture and mix well.
• Divide the stuffing equally among the six pepper halves and bake for another 15 minutes or until the peppers are tender.
• Remove peppers from the oven and top with Parmesan cheese.

Nutrition Information (per serving):
Calories 190
Fat 6 g
Carb 27 g
Fiber 6 g
Protein 7 g