Stuffed Peppers

Anything stuffed in Arabic is called mashi, and Egyptians, they will stuff anything, grape leaves, tomatoes, zucchinis, they'll stuff you if you stand still long enough. But, I digress. My favorite mashi is stuffed peppers. For the most part it is usually vegetable stuffed with a rice, meat, tomato sauce mixture. For this rendition, I made a vegetarian, Greek stuffing with Israeli cous cous, chick peas, olives, feta, and fresh herbs.

I took my inspiration for the Mediterranean.

Ingredients

2 cups Israeli cous cous

1 cup chicken stock

3 Tablespoon of chopped Kalamata olives

4 oz of chopped feta

2 Tablespoons of fresh parsely

2 Tablespoons of fresh basil

1 teaspoon of fresh mint

3 Tablespoons olive oil

1 Tablespoon of cumin

1 teaspoon of Pimenton (smoked paprika)

a pinch of cayenne

1 teaspoon of dried oregano

2 cloves of garlic minced

1 can chick peas, drained

4 cored red peppers

Method:

Preheat your oven to 400 F.

1. Cook the cous cous by heating the chicken stock in the microwave to a near boil. Out of the microwave add the cous cous, cover with plastic wrap and let sit for five minutes.

2. Stir together the olives, feta, and fresh herbs.

3. Heat the olive oil in a pan, add all of the dried herbs and the garlic, stir until fragrant. Add the chickpeas and just allow the chickpeas to sautee and really soak up the delicious flavors of the herbs and garlic.

4. Mix all the ingredients together, cooked cous cous, herb/feta mixture, fragrant chickpeas.

5. Fill the peppers with the stuffing. Place in a shallow dish and cook for 20 minutes at 400 F.

6. Garnish with fruity extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and some more fresh herbs.

Enjoy...

Much love, many blessings, and happy stuffing!