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What’s Cooking: Yummy Vegan Stuffed Peppers
I didn’t grow up with a love for veggies. In fact some of my food horror stories involved being forced to eat my vegetables as a kid. One time will always stand out for me.
My parents had made spaghetti and frozen vegetables (I know…yuck!). I was preparing to happily dig into the spaghetti when my father did what fathers do and kids hate,
Eat your Vegetable first.
Huh!?! I looked at him. He looked at me. We stared at each other and it was then that I realized that he was serious. I sat there picking at the veggies and feeling overwhelming need to gag. Even as a kid defrosted and dead veggies made me sick. As everyone was preparing to leave the table I was still picking at my plate.
I decided the veggies we’re not worth the trouble and that I just would skip dinner – big mistake! I got up from the table and my father looked at me,
Where are you going?
To my room.
You still have food on that plate.
I don’t like it.
Well you are going to like it tonight.
But…
You need to sit down and eat that food. All of it.
As the tears began to flow, thoughts of severe rebellion came over my 7 yr old mind. Perhaps I could throw the plate, scream, or even kick him in the shin. Hmmm….I had briefly lost my mind. Valuing my young life I decided those we’re no the best routs to take. So I just sat there crying for what seemed like hours (only 20 min in reality) until an angel came to my rescue – my sister. She grabbed my fork and began mixing my spaghetti and veggies together and told me,
See if you hide it in the food you won’t even taste them.
I looked at the plate skeptically and cautiously grabbed my fork. I licked it first just to make sure I didn’t taste anything. It seemed safe so I stuffed the while thing in my mouth. As I chewed away I tried hard to taste even the slightest hint of a veggie, but I couldn’t! I quickly finished my dinner and brought my plate to my father who was now plastered in his TV chair. He smiled and told me I had done a good job. He rubbed my head and freed me to go play.
A light bulb went off that day and I have rarely had to suffer through vegetable trauma like that again. However, I am thankful for the experience because it taught me how to creatively turn vegetable dishes into something a little more edible (and fun). So if you are looking for more creative ways to get your veggies and are tired of the same old steaming method, then you will love this dish!
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INGREDIENTS
From The Pantry:
- Sea Salt
- Cracked Black Pepper
- Italian Seasoning
- 3 tbs Safflower Oil (or olive oil)
- 1/2 cup of uncooked Quinoe
- 1 tbs of mushroom, vegetable, or beef base ( Optional…if used eliminate salt step)
From The Fridge
- 8 mini bell peppers or 4 regular size bell peppers ( You can also use tomatoes)
- 1lbs of chopped mushrooms
- 2 chopped shallots
- 2 tbl chopped Garlic
- 1 cups of Water
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METHOD
Part 1: The Quinoe
- Place 1/2 tbs of Safflower oil in a saucepan over medium high heat
- Add garlic and saute until brown.
- Add Quinoe, water and a few dashes of salt.
- Bring to a boil then reduce to simmer.
- Cook for 10- 15 minutes or until Quinoe is soft and fluffy (if not sure just follow the box instructions).
Part 2: The Peppers
- Heat oven to 500 degrees
- Wash, cut, and core the peppers.
- Place the peppers upside down in an oven dish, rub with oil and sprinkle lightly with salt.
- Bake for 10 min or until peppers soften slightly and brown.
- Once done remove from the oven and flip the peppers back over.
Part 3: The Stuffing
- Heat 2 tbs of oil in a skillet over medium high heat
- Add shallots and garlic. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Add mushrooms and season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Saute until brown. (Make sure most of the liquid is out of the mushrooms or it will make the pepper too wet.)
- Add Quinoe and Italian seasoning.
- Mix until well blended and then turn off heat.
- Spoon mixture into each pepper. (You can top with tomato sauce if you want to as well.)
- Turn the oven on broil.
- Place pepper dish in the oven for 5 minutes.
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Part 4: The Finish Line
- Serve peppers with a side salad or pasta.
TIP:
If you are not completely vegan adding a beef bouillon or base to the mushroom mixture really give you that meat feeling without the calories or weighed down side effect. Just make sure you eliminate the salt step or it will be too salty.
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2 Responses
That sounds so good that I am going to save the recipe to try one of these nights.
Its really easy to make and you can add different veggies depending on your tastes. Also adding the base to the mix really gives it full flavor.