Black Bean and Polenta Stuffed Peppers

The grandsons have (variously) settled into their new house in Tennessee, finished the Little League Baseball Tournament, gone to Theater Camp in NYC. and returned home to prepare for Middle School in Mississippi. “Da and Dhedah”, alias Glyn and Will, are back home and cooking once more. We are also distressingly aware of how completely most of American Cooking relies on meat. After several disappointing meals on vacation at “vegan friendly” Mexican Restaurants, we decided to “do it ourselves.” It really shouldn’t be all that difficult to produce a first-rate vegan dish with from all the incredible elements of Southwestern and Central American cooking. After all, that cuisine has given us some of the most satisfying and exciting of recipes (remember the recipes in “Like Water for Chocolate”??) So here we go! This hearty and savory one dish meal is meltingly tender while bursting with the flavors of the Southwest. The chocolate chips add an unexpected note of sweetness to balance the tartness of the cranberries, and the heat of the chipotle chili powder is a great foil for the potatoes and black beans. And the whole dish is held together by cornmeal. What more could a gourmand desire? Serve with a green salad and sit back to receive the applause of your dinner guests. ~ Glyn and Will

1/2 cup cornmeal
1 1/2 cup `water
1 herb-ox vegetable bouillon cube
2 green bell peppers, halved and blanched
1 tsp. minced garlic
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 cup baking potato, peeled and cut into 1/4″ cubes
1 1/2 cups black beans, rinsed and drained 1/4 cup cranberries
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp chipotle chili powder
1 tbsp. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup salsa
1/8 tsp Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 1/2 cup tomato sauce

Procedure
1 blanche the peppers in boiling water
2 cook the cornmeal in the water with the bouillon cube until thickened
3 combine the diced potatoes, beans, onion, garlic, cranberries, chocolate, nuts, spices and salsa with the cooked cornmeal
4 place the pepper halves in a non-stick covered casserole
5 divide the stuffing among the four pepper halves
6 pour the tomato sauce around the peppers drizzling some over each pepper as well
7 cover and bake at 350 for 45 minutes
8 remove the cover and cook an additional 15 minutes

Servings: 4
Degree of Difficulty: Moderately difficult
Oven Temperature: 350°F
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour and 30 minutes
Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1/4 of a recipe (12.4 ounces).

Recipe Type
Gluten-Free, Main Dish, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian