Beef and cheese are usually what characterizes stuffed bell peppers... but who says it has to be that way?? In this recipe, I decided to take a dish that's never been appealing to me and make it something that I'll always look forward to. Afterall, there's nothing quite like a roasted red bell pepper. It's just so soft, so warm, and the flavor.... mmmmmm <3

While this meal does take some time, most of that time is actually spent in either the Instant Pot or in the oven. So, don't be deceived by the time. You're really not putting in tooooo much effort. Just enough effort to be creating a super yummy masterpiece!

Regarding prep, the only chopping that goes on for this meal is the carrots, onions, bell peppers, and cilantro... but the cilantro is an optional garnish. Once you have the onions and carrots chopped, you're ready to start throwing things straight into the Instant Pot and let it do the hard work for you :)

Start out by putting your instant pot on the sauté setting. Put in 2 tablespoons of oil and let it heat up. Once the oil is hot, you can add in the brown rice and start stirring. Sautéing the rice like this gives it a little bit more of a nutty flavor and helps the rice grains not stick together so much. If you're short on time or simply don't want to do this step, you're totally okay to skip it and just start adding everything else to the instant pot right away.

Once the rice is looking VERY lightly browned (more brown than it already was haha), you can add the tomatoes and seasonings.

Add in the carrots and onions. Stir well and cook for another 2-3 minutes on the sauté setting.

Add in the corn, water, and black beans; stir well. Once everything is well combined, you can put the lid on your Instant Pot and manually set it to cook for 20 minutes. Make sure the lid is sealed and air is not venting. If you want to make sure the beans won't be soggy, you can wait and stir them in AFTER the rice has cooked and BEFORE you stuff the bell peppers.

Now that your rice is going, you can can start halving the bell peppers. Some people don't mind eating the seeds, but personally I'm not a fan. I like to wash off any remaining seeds by running each half of a pepper under cold water.

Once the rice is done, turn the Instant Pot vent from sealed to venting. Allow the Instant Pot to release steam. Once it has completed that process, you can begin to stuff the bell pepper halves full of the rice mixture. There will likely be some leftover... I will sometimes freeze the leftover rice and it usually ends up being a great addition to many meals. Cook the bell peppers at 400 degrees F for 20-25 minutes, or until the peppers have reached the desired softness.

Top with guacamole, lime, and / or cilantro for an added touch of freshness (and deliciousness). Or, Wade also likes to top his peppers with some shredded pepper jack cheese. I like to keep mine as vegan stuffed peppers though :)

Ingredients:

Directions: