Pimientos Rellenos

Team: Pantry Prowling Panthers

Host School: LC Hunt Middle School

Age Group: Middle School

8 Green peppers

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 medium sweet yellow onion, chopped

1/2 cup of pepper tops, chopped

1.5 cups of diced can tomatoes with juice

1.5 cups of chopped baby bella mushrooms

1 cup of water

1.5 tspn ground cumin

2 Tbsp of honey

salt and pepper to taste

3/4 of corn

3/4 cup of plain whole grain couscous

3/4 cup of shredded Cabot extra sharp cheddar cheese

1 whole lemon for juice and zest

1/2 cup of chopped cilantro

3 pieces of toast for breadcrumbs

1. Slice tops off of green peppers, slice away the white membranes and seeds, and chop up the tops for the saute

2. saute the garlic, onion, pepper tops, mushrooms with olive oil until soft

3. Add 1 cup of water and bring to a boil

4. Add diced tomatoes with juice, cumin, honey, corn

5. Add couscous, remove from heat, stir and cover for 3-5 minutes

6. Toast bread on pan then chop for bread crumbs. Mix up bread crumbs, lemon zest, and shredded cheese into a separate bowl

7. After couscous is done cooking, add cheese, lemon juice, and cilantro to stuffing.

8. Pre-heat oven to 370.

9. Roast peppers for 15 minutes with a drizzle of olive oil on the outside of the peppers

10. Pull peppers from oven and let cool.

11. Take bread crumb, cheese, and lemon zest mix and put mix into the bottom of each pepper

12. Stuff each pepper with the stuffing

13. Top stuffed peppers with more bread crumb mix and drizzle with olive oil

14. Place peppers in oven for 20-25 minutes on 370

15. Pull peppers from oven. Allow them to cool then slice each pepper in half to serve.