Guest Author - Jill Valente

Bell Peppers are my husband’s favorite vegetable so I like to incorporate them into a lot of different recipes. Luckily they are high in vitamin C and very low in calorie. This recipe is a perfect side dish to any meal and can be served room temperature at a barbeque or outdoor affair.

Stuffed Bell Peppers
I like to use red and yellow bell peppers in this recipe and alternate them on a serving dish for a nice presentation but green, orange or even purple work too. Draining the diced tomatoes helps reduce the amount of liquid but if you find the filling mixture to be too dry keep it in or add some chicken broth for extra moisture.

Ingredients

• 4 bell peppers, assorted colors
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 zucchini, quartered lengthwise then sliced thinly
• 1 yellow squash, quartered lengthwise then sliced thinly
• 14½ oz can of diced tomatoes with Basil, Garlic and Oregano, drained
• 15 oz can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• ¾ tsp salt
• ½ tsp black pepper
• ¾ cup bread crumbs, Italian style
• ½ cup grated Romano cheese, divided
• ½ cup fresh basil, chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Halve peppers lengthwise and remove seeds and membranes. Set aside. Heat olive oil in a sauté pan over medium and add onion, zucchini and yellow squash. Saute for about 5 minutes until tender and then add diced tomatoes, chick peas, salt and pepper. Remove from heat and stir in bread crumbs, Romano cheese and fresh basil. Divide mixture evenly among bell pepper halves and then sprinkle with remaining Romano cheese. Place pepper halves in shallow baking dish and bake for 35-40 minutes or until shells are tender and cheese is lightly browned. Makes 8 servings. 4 points per serving.

Notes
I like to use Romano cheese but parmesan obviously works as well or you can switch up the flavors entirely and use fresh feta cheese. Also instead of using breadcrumbs experiment with other fillers such as brown rice, bulgur or couscous.