Mexican rice stuffed capsicums

Written by Catherine Saxelby on Sunday, 03 May 2009.
Tagged: dinner, high fibre, low salt, main course, meatless, vegetables, vegetarian

Ready In: 35 minutes
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4

Cooking for vegetarians and meat-eaters in the one household? This easy recipe is one of those that can do double-duty, satisfying both camps - it's filled with a mixture of rice, beans, tomato, corn and cheese which makes for a top protein combo for vegetarians AND it can become a delicious accompaniment to a plain grilled steak or fish for the carnivores.

Ingredients

2 cups cooked doongara rice*
400 g (14 oz) can mixed beans, drained, rinsed
2 zucchini (courgette), chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1 corn cob, kernels removed
¼ cup sweet chilli sauce
4 red capsicums (bell peppers)
½ cup low-fat grated tasty cheese
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
2 tablespoons chopped parsley or coriander
mixed leaf green salad, to serve
*This is a lower GI white rice similar to Basmati in GI value. If you can't find it at your supermarket, just use a brown rice or a regular white rice.

Nutrition per serve

Including a generous serve of salad : 1715 kilojoules (410 Calories), 11 g fat (including 2 g saturated fat), 26 g carbohydrate (including 12 g sugars), 12 g fibre and 535 mg sodium. Read our nutrition rating system.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to moderate 180°C (350°F). Line a baking tray with baking paper.

2. In a large bowl, combine rice with the drained beans with the zucchini, tomato, corn and sauce.

3. Slice the top off each capsicum and remove all seeds and white membrane. Arrange capsicums on prepared tray.

4. Spoon the rice filling into each and sprinkle with combined cheese, nuts and parsley.

5. Bake for 20 minutes until capsicum is tender. Serve with salad.

Variations

Cook's tip: If cooking rice from raw, you will need about ¾ cup.

If preferred, you can use small golden nugget pumpkins (remove top and scrape out seeds) which have been partially cooked in the microwave oven on High (100%) power for 5 minutes each. Increase cooking time to 30 minutes.