Stuffed Red Peppers for Valentine's Day
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic finely minced and rested 15 minutes before cooking
- 1/4 cup plant-based ground “beef” I used the Gardein brand
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 bay leaf finely crumbled
- 1/2 cup finely chopped tomato pulp (halve and remove seeds and jell-like material)
- 1 cup cooked grain*
- 2 Tablespoons pine nuts
- 2 Tablespoons raisins
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- 2-4 bell peppers I used red for Valentine’s Day
- Lemon wedges when serving
Instructions
- Water-sauté onions in a frying pan over medium heat. Do this by adding water a Tablespoon-full at a time, just enough to keep the onions from sticking.
- When the onions are soft, add garlic and cook for 2 minutes.
- Thoroughly mix-in the "meat", grain, pine nuts, raisins, and parsley.
- Taste for seasonings. I to avoid over salting, sprinkle lightly with salt, if needed. If you like spice, add a couple of shakes of cayenne pepper. Remove pan from the heat.
- Now is the fun part. Cut tops off peppers and clean out seeds and membranes. Carve a little heart into the widest part of the pepper and cut 2 hearts out of the tops.
- Fill the peppers with the “meat” and grain mixture and place the small hearts on the top.
- Bake in a pre-heated oven of 350-degree F for 25-30 minutes.
- They can be served hot or cold with a lemon wedge.
Notes
*I used a wonderful mixture of bulgur and red quinoa that I cooked in a vegetable broth, which had a nice nutty flavor. You might also use Italian Farro, barley, quinoa, or brown rice.
