Italian Stuffed Peppers with Rice

Ingredients

4 bell peppers of your choice (yellow, red, orange, etc.), cut in half long way, seeds removed
6 carrots (2 1/2 cups), diced
10 to 12 stalks of celery (2 1/2 cups), diced
2 large sweet onions (2 1/2 cups), diced
1/2 to 3/4 cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped
1 whole bulb garlic (or garlic to taste), diced (about 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup Tomato Basil balsamic or red wine Vinegar 
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp dry Italian seasoning
Black pepper to taste
1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes, or 1 1/2 cups fresh chopped tomatoes
1 (28 oz) can tomato puree
1/2 cup uncooked rice of your choice or 1 cup cooked rice

Ingredients for Marinated Eggplant “meat”
1 medium eggplant, diced
1 tsp green salt (optional) you can also use tamari or regular salt if you use salt – you can find Green salt at – trygreensalt.com
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 cup minced garlic
1/4 cup tamari
1/4 cup black truffle balsamic (or mushroom powder)
1/2 cup vegetable broth

Instructions

1) In a large ziplock bag, marinade diced eggplant in all ingredients listed under “Marinated Eggplant”. Marinade overnight or at least 4 hours. You can sub mushrooms or other “meaty” veggies for eggplant if desired
2) Saute carrots, onion, and celery until soft
3) Season with fresh black pepper, garlic and onion powder, and Italian seasoning
4) Once veggies are soft and all the liquid has evaporated, add the canned diced tomatoes (or fresh diced tomato), Marinated Eggplant, and balsamic or wine. Let cook until all liquid has cooked into the veggies
5) Add fresh garlic and sauté for 2 minutes
6) Add fresh Italian parsley, toss, remove from heat, and allow to cool for 10 minutes (so you can handle it without getting burned)
7) Add uncooked rice or cooked rice to the cooled filling
8) Pour tomato puree into the bottom of your casserole dish
9) Stuff pepper halves with filling (heaping), place on top of the tomato puree
10) cover with parchment paper and then tightly with foil
11) Bake at – 425 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes, covered. Remove the cover and bake uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes more. Allow to cool for 15 minutes.
12)Enjoy!