I concocted this myself, while attempting to add variety to my list of South Beach Diet (low carb) recipes. This comes out very good, and is very filling. The great thing is, you can easily adjust seasonings to suit your taste. Like spicier food? Jazz it up with a dash of hot sauce and some paprika. More Italian? Add some fresh basil and oregano. The possibilities are endless! And a plus is, kids like it. It’s messy, fun, and they don’t know it’s healthy. Enjoy!
Difficulty: Easy.
Preparation time: 1 hour
Servings: 4 – 6.
Ingredients:
- 1 pound of dry lentils (I like to use bagged lentils, but two cans should do the trick too.)
- 1 bay leaf
- salt
- pepper
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 can tomato paste
- 1 tbsp Worchestershire sauce
- 6 small, or 4 large green peppers
- Optional: You can add chopped tomatoes, peppers, or other veggies into the stuffing mixture for bulk. You can also add rice. I recommend brown, since it blends with the flavor of the lentils nicely. You can also top with cheese towards the end of baking.
Preparation:
- Rinse and clean lentils. Place in a large pot, and cover with water plus about 2 inches. Add salt if desired, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, cover and cook for 15 minutes on medium, or until they reach desired softness.
- Drain lentils thouroughly, and set aside. Remove bay leaf.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare a baking dish (9 x 9 works nicely for 4 large peppers) by spraying with nonstick spray. Set aside.
- Core and clean peppers. Blot dry with towel. Place into baking dish, opening up.
- Stir desired seasonings, sour cream, paste, and worchestershire sauce into lentils. Also add in diced vegetables and tomatoes if using. Mix very well. Do a taste taste, and adjust seasonings as necessary.
- Spoon mixture into all of the peppers. Add a couple of tablespoons of water in the bottom of the baking dish to keep peppers moist. Bake for 40 minutes. If adding cheese to the top, do so in the last 5 – 10 minutes of baking.
- Remove from oven and set aside for 5 minutes. Serve.