Couscous Stuffed Red Peppers

We made this stuffed pepper recipe awhile ago. While it was good, I was looking for a recipe that was a little lighter. I looked around online and wasn't able to find quite what I was looking for. I saw that we had some couscous and decided to use that and see how it turned out.

Couscous Stuffed Red Peppers

Ingredients
3 or 4 red bell peppers (I used 3 because they were large)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 sweet onion, diced
2 cloves garlic
1 cup Israeli Couscous
1 1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons basil (or to taste)
pinch of salt
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese (plus a little more for sprinkling on top)

Directions
Cut the tops off the peppers. Remove seeds, scrape out insides and place in a baking dish. Dice pepper tops and set aside.

Heat oil in a medium pan. Add onion, garlic and diced peppers and cook until onions are translucent. Add couscous and cook until couscous is slightly golden, about 3 minutes. Add water, basil and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until all water is absorbed. (Note: if all water has been absorbed and couscous is not soft, add a little more water until it becomes soft.)

Remove from heat and stir in cheese. Spoon couscous mixture into peppers. Cover with foil and bake at 450° for 45 minutes. Remove foil, sprinkle top with remaining cheese and bake for another 10 minutes.

Amanda's Analysis:
These turned out really well! They definitely were much lighter than our other recipe but still had a lot of great flavor. I think these would also be great with some corn added in, or even some ground sausage if you wanted to add some meat. I had the leftovers for lunch the next day and they still tasted delicious. I give these stuffed peppers 6 spoons.

John's Jibba-Jabba:
I did not think these peppers had much flavor at all. Additional meat and veggies would have been welcome with this recipe. If you want to stick more closely to the original recipe then I would definitely up the garlic and add some pepper at least. Amanda took the only leftovers so I have no comment on how they taste the next day. These peppers get 4 spoons.