There are some foods that should be your best friend. Quinoa is my best friend, for sure. We're super tight. We chill at least once a week. My other best friends are a little less healthy...cream cheese, well, any cheese to be exact, chocolate, bread...yeah. So I decided to make a new friend on the playground a few months ago. Her name is Lentil. Confession-I knew Lentil well during my childhood. My mom cooked with lentils all the time, especially a really yummy lentil soup that I have yet to make on my own. Lentils are packed with nutrients and a great, inexpensive addition to your cooking arsenal. I made a great one-pot meal with chicken and lentils a few months ago, and I was inspired to attempt something different today. So I am teaming up Quinoa and Lentil and we're going to have a grand old time.
The product of this blessed union of amazing food are these Quinoa, Lentil, Squash and Tomato Stuffed Peppers. This healthy, whole-foods, natural meal is a winner in terms of nutrition and taste. It is also vegetarian (it could easily be vegan if you omit the cheese) and super simple in terms of preparation. The lentil and quinoa mixture also contains some fresh zucchini and summer squash and chopped tomato, all encased in green bell pepper and topped with crunchy Panko and fresh mozzarella. I would prefer to make these with red bell peppers, but I had green on hand, so that's what we are using today!
These are delicious, extremely healthy and packed with fiber, protein and vitamins and minerals. Hubby ate his with great gusto and remarked about how good they were! We ate ours by just cutting them in half and enjoying the crunchy pepper shell and deliciously seasoned filling. We paired ours with fresh fruit and enjoyed an awesome, easy to prepare meal. Try these out. You might be surprised how much you like them. And your body will thank you so much for not stuffing it with Velveeta cheese instead ;) They are also really budget-friendly and a great way to create a meal that doesn't depend on meat.
This is a snap to prepare, and uses fresh ingredients, with the exception of the dried lentils and quinoa. The nice thing it, you can cook these items up first and set them aside for hours before the assembly. So here we go!
Start with some dried lentils. I cooked a full cup. Lentils cook at a 3:1 ratio of water to lentils. I had a ton of lentils that I didn't use in the stuffing for the peppers, so feel free to reduce the amount you cook. I'm going to top my salad at lunch tomorrow with some, and will use the rest over the weekend. I used green lentils. You could definitely use red. They are near the beans in the grocery store. If you are new to lentils, I urge you to try them.
Bring 3 cups of water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add 1 cup of dried lentils to the boiling water along with a 1/2 teaspoon of salt, reduce the heat to medium, and let the lentils simmer and absorb the water for 20 minutes. This will yield tender, but still slightly firm lentils. Cooking more will produce very soft lentils. This recipe is best with firm lentils. Remove from heat and set the lentils aside until you are ready to assemble the stuffing.
Cook 1/2 cup of dried quinoa in 1 1/2 cups of water. See this previous post for more instructions on cooking quinoa. Set cooked quinoa aside until you are ready to assemble your stuffing.
Cut a small zucchini in half, and set half aside. Chop the other half finely, into small pieces (you want the zucchini to be diced). Put chopped zucchini in a small bowl.
Halve a small summer squash, and dice one half of it as well. Add the diced squash to the zucchini.
Drizzle a teaspoon of quality natural Italian dressing over the zucchini and squash. I use a nice, all-natural Italian, devoid of high-fructose corn syrup. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes to absorb the flavor.
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine 1/2 cup of the cooked lentils with 1/2 cup of the cooked quinoa. Mix well.
Dice a tomato and add it to the quinoa and lentils, along with the marinated zucchini and squash.
It's time for some seasonings. Add a 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt, 3-4 turns of freshly ground black pepper, a 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper (omit if you don't like spicy food), the juice of 1/2 of a fresh lemon, and one tablespoon of finely shredded Parmesan cheese. Mix well.
Cut the tops off, and hollow out the seeds from several medium-sized bell peppers. I had enough stuffing for 4 peppers, but only had three on hand. So this recipe is designed for 4 peppers. Just have more forethought than I did! This would be awesome with red or orange bell peppers too-their sweet flavor would be delish.
Pack 1/4 of the stuffing into each of the peppers. You want it to be really packed in there. Look at how beautiful they are!
Transfer the peppers to a baking sheet or small glass baking dish. You could bake them as is, but I wanted some crunch and texture on top of mine. So I added a turn of freshly ground black pepper, a teaspoon of Panko to the top of each pepper, and about a tablespoon of freshly grated mozzarella.
Bake the peppers at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until the top is crunchy. You want the pepper to retain some crunch in this dish. Soggy peppers = nasty. So take them out even if they feel firm and are not softened.
There you go! A healthy, balanced, meatless (but still packed with protein and nutrients and deliciousness) dinner! One pepper per person is plenty. These babies are filling!
These would be great alongside a salad (green or even pasta salad), a lean piece of chicken or fish, or as we ate them, with fresh fruit (red pears and succulent pineapple). You will not be disappointed!
Quinoa, Lentil, Squash and Tomato Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
(Serves 4)
-1/2 cup of cooked lentils
-1/2 cup of cooked quinoa
-1/2 of a small zucchini, diced
-1/2 of a small summer squash, diced
-1 teaspoon of all-natural Italian dressing
-1 tomato, diced
-1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
-3-4 turns of freshly ground black pepper, plus additional for pepper topping
-1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper (optional)
-Juice of 1/2 a lemon
-1 tablespoon of finely shredded Parmesan
-4 medium bell peppers
-4 teaspoons of Panko breadcrumbs
-4 tablespoons of freshly shredded mozzarella
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine cooked quinoa and lentils in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Set aside.
2. Dice 1/2 of a small zucchini and 1/2 of a small summer squash. Mix in small bowl. Marinate with one teaspoon of natural Italian dressing for 5-10 minutes.
3. Dice a tomato. Add the tomato to the quinoa and lentil mixture. Also add the marinated zucchini and squash. Mix well.
4. Season the pepper stuffing mixture with sea salt, black pepper, crushed red pepper (optional), lemon juice and shredded Parmesan. Mix well.
5. Slice the tops off four medium bell peppers. Clean seeds and ribs out of the peppers. Stuff each of the peppers with 1/4 of the stuffing mixture.
6. Place the peppers on a baking sheet or in a small glass baking dish. Top each pepper with a turn of freshly ground black pepper, 1/4 of the Panko breadcrumbs and 1/4 of the freshly shredded mozzarella.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until cheese has browned and crisped slightly. The peppers should still be crunchy and firm. Remove from oven. Serve with a salad, lean chicken or fish, or but itself with fresh fruit. For best results, cut pepper in half and eat it in bites.
8. Do a happy dance for how well you just treated your body by feeding it real, wholesome food.
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