Hello friends. I tried making stuffed bell peppers this way and when the result turned out so delicious, I wanted to share it with you.
I used chili oil instead of olive oil to give everything a bit of a kick (I was also out of any kind of spicy pepper, or else I probably would have minced some up and added it in). They are low in fat and calories and very tasty and filling. You can use different kinds of peppers. I have listed a couple of alternatives so just use what you prefer and/or what you can find!
5 italian sweet peppers / anaheim peppers / poblanos
10-15 mushrooms, chopped
1/2 onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tomatoes, chopped
5 black olives, chopped
1 tsp cumin
ground black pepper & sea salt, to taste
1 1/2 tsp chili oil (or extra virgin olive oil if you don’t want it spicy)
1/2 cup cooked rice (I used spanish style rice by Seeds of Change since it was in the fridge. You can omit the rice altogether if you wish.)
1/4 cup vegan shredded cheese (I used daiya mozzarella)
20 slices veggie pepperoni
Cut off the ends of the peppers (side with the stem) and cut in half lengthwise. Deseed and set aside.
Chop up the mushrooms, onion, garlic, tomatoes and black olives. Preheat the chili oil (or olive oil) to medium-high heat and sauté all of the chopped ingredients for a few minute, regularly stirring. Add in the cumin, black pepper and sea salt (to your taste) and then the 1/2 cup cooked rice. Stir and remove from heat.
Preheat oven to 350F. Get out a baking pan or dish and line with aluminium foil. Place the peppers onto the pan and spoon the filling into each of the 10 pepper halves. Sprinkle with the vegan cheese and top with 2 pieces of vegan pepperoni onto each pepper.
Once the oven is preheated, bake peppers uncovered for around 25-30 minutes.
It’ll be slightly different for everyone, but I ended up having just the right amount of filling in the end. There was probably only 1-2 tbs left after I had filled all of the peppers. If you have quite a lot leftover, it tastes really good on its own too. Enjoy!
