Today’s the second day of Vegan MoFo! Earlier today when I was thinking what I was going to make for dinner I couldn’t decide what filling to stuff some peppers that have been staying in my fridge for a couple of days.  I had Orzo Stuffed Peppers a couple of weeks ago and I wanted to change it up a little bit.  So I decided to make some Vegetable-Bean-Saffron Rice Stuffed Peppers.  I created this recipe with what I had on hand tonight.   It turned out really good.  The addition of the white beans made these peppers awesome!  The saffron gave it a flavor and color!  If you want to make them here’s the recipe:

Vegetable-Bean-Saffron Rice Stuffed Peppers_edited-1

Vegetable–Bean-Saffron Rice Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients:
1 onion chopped
1 carrot chopped
1 stalk celery
1 zucchini chopped into small pieces
3 garlic cloves minced
1 medium tomato chopped
1 bell pepper chopped
6 bell peppers for stuffing
1 can of white beans
2/4 teaspoon saffron
1/4 teaspoon Thyme
1 tablespoon Tomato paste
1 1/2 cups of long grain rice
3 3/4 cups of water or vegetable broth
1 Bouillon cube (leave out if using vegetable broth)
Breadcrumbs for topping peppers
Tomato Sauce for serving (optional)
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Heat a saute pan to medium heat. Add about 2-3 tablespoons of oil. Add the onion, carrots, celery and cook for a 2-3 minutes. Then add the chopped bell pepper and zucchini. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and tomato paste. Cook until the vegetable start to get tender crisp about 8 minutes. In the meantime heat the 3 3/4 cups of water or vegetable broth. When heated add the saffron. Add the rice to the vegetable mixture. Cook it for about a minute. Then add the water. Bring it to a boil then simmer for about 20 minutes until the rice is tender.
Preheat oven to 350.
Blanch the peppers in a pot of boiling water for about 3-4 minutes. After blanching them put them in cold ice water. Oil a casserole pan and place the peppers in it. Stuff the peppers with the rice mixture. Sprinkle the peppers with some breadcrumbs. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the topping is golden. Let cool for a few minutes. Ladle some tomato sauce to a plate and place the pepper on the tomato sauce.