Stuffed bell peppers are a staple in the Ostlie Household. It's healthy, delicious, and easy to make. However the origins of this recipe has evolved out of a mere accident. The original recipe called for ground turkey breast, but one night we found the package we purchased slashed and had to dump it. Undeterred we raided our pantry and started to experiment. There's so many ways to play around with this recipe and you can't go wrong. This is now our fave version. High in protein and veggies.
INGREDIENTS:
6 bell peppers, halved and cleaned
approx 20 oz black beans
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 c. diced baby portobello mushrooms
2 c. wild rice, cooked
1 c. pine nuts, toasted
3 TBSP Harissa*
1-16 oz. can of petite diced tomatoes*
2 bunches asparagus
Olive oil
Salt & Pepper
* For a different version, replace harissa and petite diced tomatoes with 1-16 oz can of fire roasted tomatoes.
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Put half a bag of dried black beans into your instant pot and cover with water. Set your instant pot to "beans" for 24 mins. Once done, drain with slotted spoon and set aside in a bowl. It will make approx 20-24 oz. of black beans
Cook 2 c. of wild rice over stove (follow package instructions) and set aside
Toast 1 c. pine nuts over low heat, until golden brown
Half each bell pepper, clean and set aside on a large cookie sheet
Dice up onion and mushrooms, set aside in separate bowls
Heat large pan or pot up with 2 TBSP olive oil
Add onions and brown
Add half of the minced garlic and stir for a minute or less, don't let the garlic burn
Add mushrooms to the onion and garlic, add in salt and pepper, cook until slightly soft
Add in beans, tomatoes, harissa*, and blend well without smashing the beans. This is our fave brand of Harissa. If you're in Seattle, we love getting our ingredients at Goodies
Add in rice and and pine nuts, mix well
Once completely mixed, generously scoop into each half of a bell pepper
*Optional* sprinkle cheese, nut or dairy, over the top of each bell pepper before placing into the oven
Put into oven and set timer for 20 mins
While the bell peppers are cooking, clean the asparagus
In batches, cook the asparagus in olive oil and minced garlic, and cooking for several mins. Avoid overcooking
Serve up half a bell pepper and several asparagus spears