Peppers with Coucous-Chickpea Pilaf
You'll find couscous instead of rice stuffed inside these sweet peppers.
Couscous, a ground semolina grain in the shape of very small beads,
can be found in the rice or pasta section of your supermarket
or at speciality stores.
4 medium green or red sweet peppers
1 1/4 cup reduced-sodium vegetable broth
1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 cup couscous
1 cup reduced-sodium, reduced-fat meatless spaghetti sauce
Fill a large saucepan half full of water. Bring to boiling. Meanwhile, cut
about 1-inch off the top of each pepper. Discard seeds and membranes.
Finely chop the pepper tops (you should have about 3/4 cup). Add pepper
shells to boiling water; cook for 5 minutes. Drain on paper towels. (If desired,
peppers can be micro-cooked. Place peppers, cut side down in a 2-quart
square microwave-safe baking dish. Cover dish with microwave-safe plastic wrap.
Cook on 100% power (high) for 5 to 7 minutes or till crisp-tender, turning
dish once.) In a medium saucepan combine vegetable broth, garbanzo beans,
onion, garlic, cumin, sesame oil, and chopped pepper. Bring to boiling;
reduce heat. Simmer for 2 minutes. Stir in couscous. Remove from heat;
cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Place drained peppers in a 2-quart square
baking dish. Fluff couscous mixture with a fork. Fill peppers with couscous
mixture. Spoon any remaining couscous mixture into the dish around the peppers.
Bake at 375 degree oven about 15 minutes or till heated through. (Or, cover
with vented plastic wrap. Micro-cook on high for 2 to 3 minutes or till heated
through, turning dish once. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan heat the spaghetti
sauce. To serve, spoon sauce over stuffed peppers.
SERVING SIZE: 1 Pepper
POINTS: 9.5 (7)
PER SERVING: 364 Calories, 3 g Total Fat, 0 g Saturated Fat,
536 mg Sodium, 70 g Total Carbohydrate,
10 g Dietary Fiber, 13 g Protein
* Whenever possible, I calculate ALL my Points on my website with my
Offline Points Calculator
in the Half Points Mode,
which rounds UP to the nearest Half Point.
This keeps my site consistent.
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