Easy Family Meals ~ Pepper Vegetable & Rice #Recipe

In the effort to keep my family fueled up for our on the go lifestyle, this Mom is spending more time than ever before reading ingredient labels and taking a closer look at the foods we choose for our family meals.  Meal elements that my husband and I have been considering as of late are our choices for main courses and side dishes - the great potato vs. rice debate.

Having both been raised in traditional meat and potato meal homes, adding rice as a main course or side dish to our meals is not a natural selection.  However after exploring the nutritional benefits of rice, we are certainly open to adding more kid friendly rice sides to our weekly meal plan, especially those that fit our quick weekday meal preparation needs.

Photo Credit:  IRRI Images 

Nutritional Benefits of Rice 1

• More protein - 5g in  cup of Brown Rice, 3g in cup of Potato with skin
• More fiber  - 4g in cup of Brown Rice,  3g in cup of Potato with skin
• Less fat -  1.8g in cup of Brown Rice, 2.8g in cup of Potato with skin
• More complex carbohydrates - 46g per cup of Brown Rice, 26g in cup of Potato with skin

With the nutritional benefits of adding more rice to our family meals compelling, the key is truly in finding easy rice recipes for our meal planning and dinner ideas.  This Mom certainly appreciates that so many of the rice recipes I find are also packed full of other healthy ingredients my children love, such as fresh green bell peppers.

Photo Credit: Pinterest

Rice & Vegetable Stuffed Bell Peppers

Ingredients

1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. rosemary crushed
¼ cup cornflakes crushed
3 green peppers seeded and halved
4 Tbsp. chopped parsley
1 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic minced
1 cup Brown or Wild Rice
1 can corn with peppers (11 oz.) drained
2 ½ cups water
½ cup chopped celery
4 Tbsp. butter

Directions

1. Bring water to boil in medium saucepan. Stir in rice and salt, cover tightly and simmer until most of water is absorbed.

2. While rice is cooking, cook peppers in boiling water just until tender, about 5 minutes; remove and drain.

3. Sauté onion, celery and garlic in 2 tablespoons butter until tender, about 5 minutes. Combine sautéed vegetables, corn, parsley and rosemary with cooked rice.

4. Arrange green peppers in buttered baking dish and mound 1 cup of the rice mixture into each pepper.

5. Melt remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and combine with cornflakes. Spoon over peppers.

6. Bake uncovered in a preheated 350ºF oven until crumbs are brown, 12 to 15 minutes.

Do you frequently create meals or side dishes with rice?
Does your family prefer white rice over wild or brown rice?
Do you mix it up by adding pasta and potato dishes during the week?
Tell me in a comment below!  I'd love to hear your thoughts!

The opinions above are both honest and of my own experiences.  Recipe & recipe photo sourced online.  1 - Nutritional information sourced from Livestrong.com.  My disclosure policy..