Stuffed peppers with lentils
This vegan recipe of stuffed peppers with lentils is a perfect lunch, dinner, or fest dish. It is so healthy and tasty at the same time. The peppers are so flavorful, full of nutrients, and filling. A perfect dish for you, your family, or friends.
Ingredients
Filling
- 1 1/2 cups lentils (I used red lentils)
- 1 tbsp coconut oil (or other vegetable oil)
- 1 big onion chopped
- 5 cloves garlic chopped
- 4-5 mushrooms chopped
- 1 medium carrot shredded
- 1 1/2 cup water
- 0,4 cup tomato paste
Spices for filling
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp paprika powder
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
Main ingredient
- 6 bell peppers
Tomato sauce
- 0,4 cup tomato paste
- 0,4 cup water
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- Soak the lentils for 20-30 minutes
Preparing the filling
- Into a preheated pan, on medium heat, add the oil, onion, garlic, ground coriander, and the ground cumin. Fry for around 5 minutes.
- Then, add the mushrooms, carrots, and lentils. Give it a stir.
- For preventing from sticking, add the water and tomato paste. Then, add the rest of the spices: paprika, smoked paprika, salt, and garlic. Mix everything together and let it cook for around 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Preparing the peppers
- Wash the peppers and then dry them with a paper or kitchen towel.
- With a knife, carefully cut the top of the peppers. Remove the seeds. Keep the stem for covering the pepper while baking. (watch the video instructions for a more comprehensive understanding)
Adding the filling
- By now, your filling should be done. Remove from the heat.Stuff the peppers with the lentil filling, pressing slightly so the edges are also filled.
Tomato sauce
- Into a small bowl, combine tomato paste, water, and salt. Stir.
- Add the tomato sauce into the peppers. Add the stems of the peppers on top.
Oven-bake
- Put the stuffed peppers into the oven for 30-40 minutes on 350F/175C.
Notes
- Soaking lentils is not mandatory, but I advise you to do so. Your lentils will activate their nutrients even more than normal, so you will end up with more nutrients.
- You can make more filling if you want to freeze some of it for later use. It will be less time consuming next time when you want to eat a healthy, delicious, and with minimum effort meal.
- Feel free to add more vegetables, such as chopped broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, or cabbage.
- Smoked paprika is a key ingredient in the recipe. It gives a nice smoky, meaty flavor to the lentils. That is why I encourage you to always have this spice in your kitchen.
- I have just realized that a dressing would be perfect for this recipe. So, combine into a small food processor soaked sunflower seeds (0.5 cups), 0.5 tsp salt, pepper to taste, 0.5 tbsp garlic powder, and 0.5 cup water. Combine and pour on top of peppers before serving. It is the vegan version of sour cream.