Healthy Stuffed Peppers & The POWER of Turmeric

 Most of us grew up with our parents making stuffed peppers for dinner ,  I hid under my bed on that night!!

I’m sure my mom made them great but the sticky ground meat and rice combo just didn’t sit well with me.  So I decided to give them a shot again and make them myself  but meatless.  See I stopped eating meat about 4 months ago after I watched this crazy, insane documentary,  I’m not going to tell you the name so you won’t be tempted to watch it and  TRUST me you don’t want to.  I was a huge fan of meat before it and I was warned about this film but I didn’t listen.

I was a Chef before I was a trainer, I went to chef school right out of high school and cooked in kitchens all across Canada for 5-6 years.  I loved it,  there wasn’t anything I wouldn’t eat.  I loved a tender rare filet mignon with horseradish and blood dripping down my chin… lol if you asked me to take meat out of my diet before this life changing documentary I watched I would have said “Heck NO”!  But I watched it… and I am now a different person, both inside and out.

So hence the meatless Healthy Stuffed Peppers!!!

Ok so more about my meatless journey another time let’s get to this amazing recipe.  Now I made this up as I went along here and you can do the same, you really can add or take away anything you want in most recipes.  Now baking is more of a science but when it comes to stuffing or stirring…etc  get creative and try new things.  Our bodies love new flavours and it’s so much fun to cook outside of your comfort zone.  So for this recipe I really wanted to pull in that powerful Turmeric taste, if you haven’t used it before you have to try it.  The health benefits are out of this world with a beautiful flavour and colour.

My Healthy Stuffed Pepper Ingredient list:   Makes 10 halves

• 1 cup cooked wild rice
• 1 cup cooked lentils
• 1 cup quinoa
• 5-6 mushrooms
• 4 shallots
• 3-5 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp ground clove
• 3 Tbs turmeric
• 1 Tbs ground coriander
• 2Tbs fresh rosemary
• 5 peppers (any colour)
• 1.5 cups fresh chopped Spinach
• 1 can of crushed roma tomatoes
• Sprinkle Hemp hearts (optional)
• Sprinkle Parmesan cheese

 

Ok so if your like me I always have extra quinoa, rice or some kind of legume in my fridge from another recipe and this is what inspires most of my ideas.  But if you don’t have one or all ready then pre cook your rice, lentils and quinoa.  You don’t even have to use all 3 of these, whatever you want really!

– While your lentils, rice and quinoa are cooking prepare your peppers for stuffing.  I cut mine in half to stuff,  some just cut the top off and use the whole pepper but it’s to big a serving for myself so do whatever you like.  Take the seeds and white veins out. 

– In a pot saute your shallots, garlic and mushrooms till they are caramelized.

– Add the turmeric, coriander and fresh rosemary then mix it.  The smell will be amazing already. 

– Mix in the rice, lentils and quinoa and let cook for 3-5 minutes, but stay close and keep mixing it around.

– Just before you pull it off the stove-top throw the spinach in and mix it around just a little,  you want to keep that spinach crisp.

– Take it off the stove and stuff your peppers.

– Pour some crushed tomato in your baking dish then place the peppers over. You can add a little water or veg stock too if you want to help keep them moist. 

– Sprinkle the hemp hearts and some fresh parmesan on top.

– Place in the oven at 35o for 25-35 minutes uncovered.

 

That’s it, pretty easy and I like making extra so I can enjoy it for lunch and dinner the next day or so and drop some by for my grandma.  It feels good to share food with the ones you love and they will be so thankful for it too.  If you end up with extra lentil mix don’t trow it out turn it into a veggie burrito or make a stir-fry the next day.

Let me know how you like them and if you added your own twist, I would love to hear about it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Turmeric

• Is a natural liver detoxifier
• A natural antibacterial agent, useful in disinfecting cuts and burns
• Is a natural painkiller
• Has long been used in Chinese medicine as a treatment for depression
• In India they have referred turmeric as “holy powder” for many years.
• Turmeric has powerful anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor and antioxidant properties.  Like a natural aspirin but doesn’t ruin your kidney’s & liver.

You can read more about this powerful spice here and after learning all that I did about Turmeric today, I will definitely be adding it to my cooking a whole lot more.  It’s incredible what a simple spice can do for our bodies, it amazes me.

Enjoy!!!