Recipe courtesy of Yumna Jawad

Seven-Spice Unstuffed Peppers

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  • Level: Easy
  • Total: 50 min
  • Active: 20 min
  • Yield: 4 to 6 servings
This Middle Eastern-inspired unstuffed peppers bowl makes a satisfying meal that includes protein, carbohydrates and vegetables. It has all the comforting flavors of the stuffed version but is much quicker to make--and clean up!

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the ground beef, garlic, green peppers and onions and cook, stirring, until the beef is browned, 7 to 10 minutes. Add the tomato paste, seven-spice blend, dried mint, salt and pepper and saute until well combined and fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes.
  2. Add the rice, crushed tomatoes and 1 cup water and stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer until the liquid is absorbed, 20 minutes. Remove from the heat but keep covered for an additional 5 to 10 minutes. Fluff the rice with a fork to separate.
  3. Serve in bowls garnished with the pine nuts and parsley with a dollop of yogurt, if desired.

Cook’s Note

Use whatever color peppers you like in this recipe. I like to use green, which is more traditional, but you can use a mix of red and orange for a sweeter flavor. You can even use sweet mini peppers. You can buy toasted pine nuts or use raw pine nuts and toast them. It helps to toast the pine nuts first in the pot you’ll use for cooking the ground beef. This minimizes the pots you’ll use and lends a nutty flavor from the pine nuts to the ground beef.