Meatless Stuffed Peppers

Another recipe I have made this week is stuffed bell peppers.  No meat.  Veggies and Rice only.

Stuffed Bell Peppers
6 Green Bell Peppers, cored
1 1/4 C cooked Wild Rice
1 1/4 C cooked Brown Rice
1 or 2 Zucchini, diced
2 stalks Celery, diced
1C Baby Carrots (or 2 large), diced
1 Red Onion, finely diced
1 Yellow Onion, finely diced
1 Roasted Red Bell Pepper, diced
1 can Water Chestnuts, diced
1-2 eggs, whisked (these are optional-they help bind the rest together but aren't necessary)
1 can Tomato Paste
1 can Tomato Sauce
Dried oregano
Sea Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper to taste
Olive Oil
(optional is to add some diced roasted poblano peppers or diced jalapenos to add some heat to the dish)

Preheat oven to 375.

In a small bowl, empty both cans of tomato.  Add approximately 1 tsp oregano.  Whisk until smooth.

Place peppers into baking dish/casserole dish.  Place 1 Tbsp tomato mixture into bottom of each pepper.

Bring a large pan to medium heat, add one turn around the pan of olive oil (about 1/2 to 1 Tbsp)  Add in onions, celery, carrots.  Cook for 3 minutes.  Add in zucchini. Cook stirring frequently until veggies are crisp tender and onion is opaque.  Stir in rices, water chestnuts and roasted red pepper.  Heat through.  Turn off heat and cool slightly.  Place in a bowl and add in the whisked eggs until fully mixed.

Fill each bell pepper with rice mixture.  Top each pepper with remaining tomato mixture.

Cover casserole dish and bake at 375 for 1 hour.  You can remove the cover 15 minutes before done.  Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes.

Getting Creative

My husband and I are in the middle of a cleanse/detox program from Standard Process.  It is 21 days of no processed, no sugar, no caffeine, no alcohol.  The first 10 days are also meatless, with protein coming from shakes with protein powder.

Eggs are not on the plan, but they are a pure protein/fat so we have added them in place of shakes, especially for lunch.  We can have a portion of brown or wild rice, or lentils daily.  This calls for a rice cake, not the over processed kind, but there are organic cakes that have only organic brown rice and sea salt, which technically, fits the bill.  Day 11 we are allowed to have fish or chicken for the remaining days.

I had heard about mixing egg and avocado, but wasn't quite sure about mixing what I perceived as guacamole with a hard boiled egg.  Well, let me tell you, I am a believer!  I made an egg salad sandwich of sorts for lunch today.  Healthy protein, healthy fat, the perfect mid day meal.  This recipe replaces the non healthy mayo with avocado, which adds the creaminess.  Here is what it looked like along with the recipe, which is quite simple! Good for you and it was amazingly filling.

'Clean' Egg Salad Sandwich
1 hard boiled egg
1/2 avocado
1 Tbsp spicy brown mustard
1 organic brown rice cake
3 lettuce leaves
salt and pepper
paprika

In a small bowl, mash together the avocado and the egg yolk.  Finely chop the egg white and add to the bowl.  Add mustard; salt, pepper and paprika to taste.  Mix well.  Place salad mix on top of the rice cake, top with paprika.  You can add the lettuce under or over the salad, or eat separately.