Vegan Stuffed Pepper

So a wile back in this blog I said I would be putting up recopies up here..... well oops I forgot, until now. So to save time as a single guy that works, and works out, and then is pretty lazy the rest of the week, I prefer to make one giant meal for the week. It is also good practice for the future (parties, holidays, pre-race get together meals, or when kids enter the picture) . This week, as you can tell by the title) is vegan stuffed peppers. Now a vast majority of my cooking consists of what do I have in my house that would go good together (even though I work in a grocery store) I swear you can come up with some of the best combinations this way. But as far as planning I try to keep meals typical, protein, grain (or starch like potatoes) and vegetables. A recipe that I fall back on is stuffed peppers, depending on budget (or if I want to cut back on meat for the week) I use ground meat of any kind really, I generally use beef or turkey, or quinoa! quinoa is often over looked, but it is a complete protein, one of the few non meat ones. And quinoa also has plenty of nutrients packed into it, as is typical of seeds, yes they are seeds, look it up. Whichever protein you choose, I usually use the tops of the pepper, onion (or shallot if you are making a smaller batch), mushrooms, peas, spinach (any leafy green), and jalapenos (it has been a long cold winter, I like spicy food, and it helps keep the body warm). Cook all that on the stove top (I love cast iron) season it however you like (I prefer garlic grinders, small bits of dried garlic that get ground very fine. freshly ground explodes with the flavor, and the smaller the pieces the more flavor you get, thanks mom!).

 I then use pasta sauce as a base, I say base because I always add freshly ground pepper, garlic (can not get enough) thyme/oregano, chili powder, and what ever else you like, no sauce from a jar has enough flavor. after it is cooked, the peppers (that you sliced the top off of) get stuffed with the delicious mixture, then baked for about an hour at 400f. depending as to how you want the pepper to come out, I like softer over crunchier. My vegetable this week is asparagus, i have a grill pan, and just use coconut oil, pepper and garlic until it looks good (I almost always cook by look, barley time). One of my favorite ways to cook potatoes (usually on the grill, kind of like healthy french fries) is mini potatoes (about the size of a golf ball) quartered with pepper, garlic, and rosemary (I seldom use salt in my cooking, weird considering I am a runner) I know this is not in precise detail, sorry if you need that, then i failed on this post. This is more of a guild line showing that healthy meal prep for about 5 days can be done in an hour and a half. Another good thing, this meal will freeze very well, I have done it several times, just make sure when you microwave that you slice the pepper in half so you do not get that cold center from the microwave. So keep in mind next time you go shopping, it is pretty cheap, (especially if you skip the meat) and very healthy. just make sure to get peppers that can stand on their own, it makes baking them much easier.

Hope this helps to inspire a healthier meal plan
Until next time
Stephen