Stuffed Bell Peppers with Beans, Brown Rice and Diced Potatoes

Recently, my husband and I decided to go gluten free for a while. Yes, you guess it, that means no more bread, flour tortillas cookies, couscous (this one is hard) or even.....pizza (unless they are GF). Of course we can find alternatives for these foods such as brown rice tortillas (yuck) or even GF pizza dough, but it's going to take some getting used to. Many people who give up grains that contain gluten do not do it by choice but my husband and I are always experimenting with different lifestyles (when it comes to diet) so we decided to see if the gluten free diet works for us. Hey, if it helps us with tummy aches and headaches while at the same time helping me lose some weight (notice how I said me...my hubby is naturally thin) then why not?

Giving up grains is harder than I thought, the Pizza Hut commercials keep torturing me (I guess I should of had pizza before starting this diet...but I haven't had some in over a month), I keep wanting to bake some cookies or cupcakes, and I miss eating my black bean couscous. But I really want to give this a shot for a few months to see if I notice any difference. 

Normally I liked adding breadcrumbs to my stuffed peppers but being that these are GF, breadcrumbs are not allowed. 

What you will need  (meal for 2):

2 bell peppers (color of choice, I prefer green though)

1/4 cup Black beans (cooked, drained and seasoned with sea salt)

1/4 cup Brown rice (fully cooked. I will post my brown rice recipe soon)

1 medium sized golden potato 

1/4 cup Shredded mozzarella

Cilantro

1/2 Roma Tomato diced

1/4 diced onion

1/2 Serrano Pepper (diced) 

Salsa of choice (I used a homemade tomatillo salsa)

Water

Sea Salt

Garlic Salt

2 Tbsp Cilantro (chopped)

Directions: 

1. Cut the top of the peppers off and remove all the seeds. Set aside. 

2. layer in the following, beans, rice then potatoes. 

3. After the last layer top with 1/2 mozzarella (this will create a nice crust)

4. Place stuffed peppers in a baking dish with foil and a little bit of water on the bottom.

5. Place in oven at 350° for about 40 minutes

6.then top with the rest of the mozzarella and let it melt for about five  more minutes. 

7. Remove from oven 

8. While the peppers are cooling mix the diced tomato with the diced onions and pepper. Add a little bit of salt and garlic salt to taste. 

9. Top stuffed peppers with tomato mixture, salsa and cilantro. 

Tip: If you do not need for this recipe to be GF go ahead and add some panko bread crumbs as well =) 

Enjoy!