Stuff-You-Up Peppers!

Thursdays: my day for relaxation. Not only that, but Wednesday was my last round of work and presentations until my first final next Wednesday!!! So instead of starting my studies a week early to get a head start, I decided to cook all day and enjoy the day before I begin my stressful week!

Bill and I made some delicious Hangover Breakfast Potatoes (no hangover necessary), went on a nice, long walk through the campus, and then I came home and baked so many goodies (which I'll show you sooner or later!) . Then for dinner, Bill helped me make these- Stuffed peppers with green lentils, brown rice, spinach, poblanos and corn. Oh my goodness were they good! We made enough stuffing for about 6-8 peppers, and if you have a dutch oven- I strongly recommend getting that out of the attic and using it! Definitely made a difference! I mean, just look how good it looks!

This recipe is rather time consuming, so if you're in a hurry I wouldn't suggest it. BUT it has great leftovers and those leftovers can make an awesome soup, a great side dish, or you can even pop the leftovers in a pepper and knock of 30 minutes since you don't need to make the stuffing! It's a diverse, fun and easy recipe!

Lentil Stuffed Peppers 

Makes 8 Peppers

Gluten Free and Vegan

Time: 1hr, 20 min.

Stuffing:

1 "Success" bag of brown rice, cooked

1 bag of green lentils

1 bell pepper, chopped

1 poblano pepper, chopped

2 onions, chopped

1 cup fresh spinach leaves

1 small bag of frozen corn

2 T olive oil (plus more to drizzle)

4 cups vegetable broth

1 cup water

1T dried tarragon

1t onion powder

1t garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

grated havarti cheeze (I love Jalapeno-Garlic Havarti Style Wedge by Daiya)

8 Bell peppers (make sure they can stand upright!!)

Instructions

1. Cook your brown rice as directions follow, and set aside. While rice is cooking, rinse your lentils. 

2. In a dutch oven, heat 2T olive oil over medium-high heat. 

3. Sautee onions until translucent, approximately 3-5 minutes. Add chopped poblanos and peppers and cook for another 5 minutes. 

4. Once these are cooked, deglaze the bottom of your dutch oven with 1 cup of the vegetable broth. Once this is done, add in the lentils, corn, tarragon, onion powder, garlic powder, and vegetable broth. Make sure to add only enough vegetable broth so that it is just above the mixture. 

5. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and add your brown rice, s&p and water (only use as much as needed to just cover the mixture). Let it simmer for 30 minutes, covered.

6. While this is simmering, now is a good time to prepare your peppers- Preheat your oven to 400 F and spray a 9x13 pyrex baking dish with cooking spray

7. Cut the tops of your peppers and core out the inside. Assemble them in your baking dish

8. Next, after 20 minutes that your mixture has been simmering, add in your spinach. 

9. Once your stuffing is simmered, take it off the heat and begin to stuff your peppers (I stuff mine to the very top and then some more!)

10. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil, and bake for 30 minutes.

11. After it has cooked for 30 minutes, remove the aluminum foil and sprinkle on the havarti cheese on top of the peppers and drizzle a little olive oil. 

12. Cook for another 10 more minutes- until the cheese has melted and it is browned and bubbling

13. serve and enjoy!

Iggy's newest obsession: chewing straws!