“I need more recipes. I don’t eat clean because I just can’t think of what to make. Where do you get your recipes?”
“I either get mine from Fixate or I make them up.”
“…You make them up? I could NEVER make up recipes.”
This is a common conversation I have with people I’m coaching on clean eating and cooking. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I’ve had it. Clean eating and throwing together my own recipe in a jiffy hasn’t always been easy, but just like with anything else all you have to do is practice and soon you move from novice to expert!
So here it is – another off the cuff, clean eating, 21 Day Fix approved recipe. This is how I make my Veggie Stuffed Bell Peppers!
On a side note, something else I LOVE about this recipe is that it is free of Top 8 Food Allergies. The fish I have in the photo is completely optional and can be replaced with chicken or steak!
I came up with this recipe one night when I was trying to think of something fast and healthy to make for dinner. I looked in the fridge and found we had a lot of veggie to use up, but I didn’t want to just saut? them and serve them as a side dish. I wanted veggies to be our main course, so stuffed bell peppers it was! I know I’m not inventing stuffed bell peppers, but I also didn’t feel like searching for a recipe (I can get stuck on Pinterest forever!). I simply figured, what the heck?! Can’t be too hard to make something up!
And it wasn’t ;).
Here’s how simple this was. First thing I did was dice up all the veggies that I was going to put in the peppers, put them in a large bowl, and tossed with drizzle of melted coconut oil.
Next, I sliced the top of the bell pepper and cleaned it out. Then I sliced the bottom to make it flat so it would sit in the pan. And so I wouldn’t waste those two pieces, I diced up the top and bottom portions of the peppers and added them to the veggie mix.
Next, I heated up my favorite go-to grain when I’m in a time pinch. Uncle Ben’s Whole Grain Brown Rice. Microwave for 90 seconds and you have a bag of brown rice ready to eat! After I nuked the rice, I poured it into the veggie mix and mixed it all together.
The last thing I did before stuffing the mix into the bell peppers was saut? it in a little more coconut oil and garlic and onion powder on medium heat for about 7 minutes. This started the cooking process of the veggies so they wouldn’t be too crunchy. In the meantime, I preheated the oven to 350.
The very last step after you saut? the veggies and add them to the peppers is to cook them in oven at 350 for 20 minutes. Note: If you only use 3 peppers like I did, you will have leftover veggie mix. Either continue to saut? it until fully cooked or throw it in separate pan and bake as well.
You can eat these peppers on their own or serve with a side of fish or chicken like I did. Paired with MahiMahi, it was an absolutely delicious dinner!
Ingredients:
-3 bell peppers
-1 medium zucchini
-1/2 white onion
-1 roma tomato
-1/2 cup shredded carrots or 2 large carrots diced
-1 bag Uncle Bens Whole Grain Brown Rice or 1 cup brown rice
-2 tbsp. coconut oil
-Seasonings to taste
Directions:
1. Dice up all the veggies except the peppers.
2. Put them in a large bowl and toss with drizzle (1 tbsp.) of melted coconut oil.
3. Sliced the top of each bell pepper and cleaned the seeds out. Then slice the bottom to make it flat so it will sit in the pan.
4. Dice up the top and bottom portions of the peppers and added them to the veggie mix.
5. Heat up Uncle Ben’s Whole Grain Brown Rice according to directions.
6. Poured cooked rice into the veggie mix and mixed it all together.
7. Preheat oven to 350.
8. Saut? mix in a remaining 1 tbsp. of coconut oil and seasonings of choice on medium heat for about 7-10 minutes.
9. Stuff peppers with saut?ed veggies and cook them in oven at 350 for 20 minutes.
10. Serve alone or with pairings of your choice!