Stuffed Bell Peppers - Vegan or Turkey

Prior to changing to a vegan diet, my husband and I still had a vegetarian dinner 2-3 nights a week.  On the other nights, we usually ate organic turkey or chicken.  Ground turkey was so versatile and allowed us to create different dishes with the same protein without becoming bored with a meal.  Turkey lettuce wraps, homemade turkey burgers, my famous meatloaf (I'll have to share that recipe another day), and of course stuffed bell peppers.

On Fridays, our friend Chris usually comes by for dinner, and of course we were not going to force him to eat vegan, so we decided to make stuffed bell peppers, two ways!  One used organic sprouted tofu and the other had the organic turkey meat.  It was such a successful and easy meal, that I decided to post the recipe.  What's great is, the recipe is easy for both meat eaters as well as vegans.

*Disclaimer, I am not a professional chef.  My measurements typically consist of a pinch or shake of this, and about a cup of that.  I go by taste, so bare in mind I do not have exact ingredients.

Ingredients:

4-5 bell peppers (orange and yellow are mild and sweet)
1 large onion (I had red on hand, but white or yellow are great too)
precut mini portabella mushrooms
spinch
olive oil
garlic salt
black pepper
cayenne pepper

*cheese
- aged white cheddar, shredded
or
- Daiya jack style wedge


* Protein
- Organic ground turkey
or
- Wildwood Sprouted super firm Tofu

Prepping the bell peppers:

Start by preheating your oven to 350°.  Prepare your bell peppers by cutting off the tops and removing the seeds.  I also give the bottom nubs a small trim so that they will stand up straight.  Careful not to cut through the bell pepper though.  Once the oven is preheated, place the bell peppers in a cupcake pan UPSIDE down!  Placing them upside down keeps the bell peppers from collecting the extra water that cooks out.  The cupcake pan is great for later so they wont topple over while they are baking with the goodies inside.  Roast the peppers for 10-20 minutes, depending on how al dente you like your veggies, then remove from oven to wait for filling.


Filling:

Caramelize the onions with the olive oil in a pan.  I could have caramelized my onions together and separated them when I added my protein, but I wanted that good flavor from the caramelizing process on the meat as well as the tofu, so I suggest using two pans.  Add mushrooms to onions and brown for a few minutes.

Then I add the protein, about half a pound of ground turkey to one of the pans.  I broke up the turkey and browned thoroughly.  This should make about 2-3 bell peppers.   In the other pan I added half a 14oz package of super firm tofu.  This cooked down and ended up making only 1 overflowing bell pepper.  If you are feeding more than yourself, I would suggest using the entire package.

While the tofu/meat is browning, add the garlic powder, black pepper and a pinch of cayenne pepper.  When the tofu/meat is browned thoroughly, add a small amount of the shredded white cheddar (or Daiya) and the spinach.  Once the spinach is cooked down, fill the pre cooked bell peppers.  Sprinkle some more cheese (or alternative) on the top of the filling.  Cook in oven for another 10 minutes or until the cheese is slightly browned.


*Note: In the picture above, I had used a slice of soy cheddar alternative that obviously did not melt at all.  Matter of fact it was one of the worst cheese alternatives I have tried and I removed it from my dish before eating!

Here is a close-up.  Hope you enjoy!