Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers

Weather you are a vegetarian or not there are times when you just don't want to eat meat.  For me that really happens when it is so hot outside.  Where I live this has been a very hot summer.  Unfortunately I did not make this dish for my family, so I didn't get to eat it tonight.  I have a friend who eats a gluten free diet and is mostly meat free.  She was in need of a little help and I volunteered dinner tonight - so I wanted something hearty that her husband would like to eat but vegetarian and gluten free for her to eat. I made a mushroom and artichoke stuffed pepper.  I also served it with a light Caprese Salad.  I didn't find the basil leaves that I wanted so I used Cilantro.  I happen to prefer cilantro over basil - but I think my friend would prefer basil.  She might have picked some from her garden and added it to the salad.  It is a simple arrangement of mozzarella cheese and tomato slices with olive oil drizzled on top and on this one chopped cilantro.

I think it probably needed some acid - so I might add some balsamic vinegar to it if I make it again.  For the Stuffed peppers I put a little olive oil in a pan and added 1 container of chopped mushrooms.

I let those cook a little while I roughly chopped a can of artichoke hearts and added them to the mushrooms.

I let that cook a minute or two and combined it all together.

I added about 3 C. Cooked Brown Rice and mixed it up.

I then poured 3/4 jar of Bertolli Vidalia Onion Spaghetti sauce over the rice mixture and stirred it up.

I cut 2 bell peppers in half and put them in my dish - today I used a disposable dish since I was giving it away.  I filled up those peppers, and filled in all around the pan with the rice mixture.  Then I took that remaining 1/4 jar of sauce and poured it on top.  I covered the dish with foil and baked at 350* for 1 hour. 

This was taken pre-cooking - I didn't open the foil after it was cooked - but I did save a bite of that rice mixture for me to taste and it was really good.  I think I will have to make this for myself sometime...

when my husband is out of town.

(he is not a stuffed pepper fan or a vegetarian fan)