Roasted Stuffed Bell Peppers with Slivered Almonds

I just made stuffed bell peppers for lunch today and have leftovers to use as a side dish with my dinner tonight.  This dish tastes delicious either hot or cold so you can pop it right out of the fridge and eat it.  I like this meal because it is healthy, satisfying and most importantly, easy to prepare.  The bell peppers also look pretty when plated so it's great to serve when you're entertaining guests.  One tip I have is to make sure you get bell peppers that are shorter and fatter with even bottoms so that they will be able to stand up on the cookie sheet.

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup brown rice
1 8 oz package cremini mushrooms
1 head of broccoli florets
3 Tbsp toasted, slivered almonds
2 Tbsp chopped parsley
3 green bell peppers
2 teaspoons butter
Parmesan cheese for sprinkling
Salt & pepper for seasoning

INSTRUCTIONS

Pre-heat oven to 400 F.

Cut up a few broccoli florets into manageable chunks for roasting, you will later cut them into bite-size pieces.

Cut tops off of bell peppers and clean out the ribs and seeds with a knife.

Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray.  Place bell peppers and broccoli separately on cookie sheet and drizzle a bit of olive oil over them.  Add salt and pepper.

Place cookie sheet on middle rack of oven and leave bell peppers and broccoli in oven for about 30 min. or until roasted.

While bell peppers and broccoli are roasting, toast almonds in a pan with a teaspoon butter over medium-low heat for a couple of minutes or until lightly toasted.  Remove almonds from pan.

Thinly slice mushrooms and saute them in a saucepan with a teaspoon butter over medium heat.  Mushrooms will be brown and soft once they are cooked through.

Prepare brown rice according to package directions.

When rice is done, add mushrooms and almonds to it.  Add in some parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.  Chop up parsley and add it in too.

Once broccoli and peppers are out of the oven, chop up broccoli into bite size pieces and add the broccoli pieces to the rice.

Mix the rice well and then scoop the rice and place it inside the bell peppers.  Top with more parmesan cheese.  Serve immediately or store in fridge for later.