Mushroom & Lentil Stuffed Peppers

Growing up, one of my favorite things my mom would make for dinner was stuffed bell peppers. I requested these at least once a month and even for my birthday dinner several years in a row.

My mom would make them by stuffing rice, bell pepper, onion, and ground beef into the peppers. She would then top them with cheese and bake them for just a few minutes until the cheese melted.

DELICIOUS.

After living on my own and getting married i stole this recipie and made stuffed bell peppers fairly often. When we decided to go (almost) vegan I knew this was still a dish I wanted to make and have regularly. Of course I needed to tweak it though.

At first I made them the same way, just without adding the ground beef and cheese. This week however, I decided to try something totally new. Instead of rice, I used green lentils and I added mushrooms to the mix along with the peppers and onions.

I've gotta say that this dish turned out pretty tasty.

I started by making the lentils as directed with vegetable broth and white wine.

Then I diced and sliced a yellow onion, the top of four green peppers, several cloves of garlic, and a package of mushrooms. I mixed all the veggies, but the garlic together with a bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper.

I tossed the veggie mix into a pan with some olive oil on low heat to sautée. I waited about 4 minutes until the onions were soft and translucent before adding in the chopped garlic to avoid burning the garlic. I continued to let that cook for about 10-15 more minutes while the lentils cooked as well.

Next, I cored the green peppers and placed them upright in a small glass 8x8 cooking dish. I placed the peppers in the oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes to soften them up a little.

Once the lentils and veggies were done cooking, I mixed them all together. I added just a pinch of salt to the mix, but it was full of flavor so I didn't have to add anything else!

Finally, I scooped several heaping spoonfuls of the lentil mushroom mixture into each of the peppers. Presto! A childhood comfort food delicious and perfect for an almost vegan.

p.s. I'd love to hear if you try this dish out and what you think of it! As always enjoy playing around with recipes and putting your own spin on things. I'd love to hear how you make this dish your own:)

#tastythings #trieditlikedit #veganeating #vegan