Lentil Stuffed Poblano Peppers

Lentil Stuffed Poblano Peppers with a side of Balsamic Roasted Vegetables

There's a middle eastern market called Super King, not too far from my house that makes for some interesting treasures.  My creative juices start flowing when I'm in a market like this and I get excited to go home and start creating without a recipe.  I spotted some beautiful poblano peppers that looked like they were calling out to be stuffed and decided to base my culinary experimenting around them.  Bought some squash, zucchini, an eggplant and some fresh peeled garlic gloves in jar (make it easy on yourself). I Already had the tomatoes and yellow pepper in the frig.

Come join me as I create my very own Middle Eastern inspired vegetarian stuffed poblano peppers.  They're stuffed with a mixture of lentils and veggies and topped with a tomato, onion, garlic mixture.  They are absolutely delicious plus they're heart healthy and loaded with nutrients and fiber.  Enjoy.

Slit the peppers down one side, while still keeping them whole, and remove the seeds.  Drizzle some olive oil on them and roast them on a cookie sheet for about 35 minutes at 450 degrees.

On a separate cookie sheet place the tomato halves with the cut side down, sliced onions and garlic and roast them in the same oven as the peppers.  This will be the sauce for the stuffed peppers.

Use a food processor to slice all of the other veggies and toss them in a dressing made of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper.  I used the beet and horseradish mustard and the pomegranate balsamic vinegar from We Olive in Belmont Shore. All of the products there are deliciously unique.  Roast the mixture for 35 minutes at 450 degrees.  Some of these veggies will go into the stuffing for the peppers and the rest can be used for a side dish for this or another meal.

More goodies from Super King and cooked lentils from Trader's Joe's refrigerator case.

I thought these Brown Rice Breadcrumbs from Whole Foods looked interesting and are a good healthy and gluten free choice.  I added them to the food processor along with the lentils, a few red peppers from the jar, one egg, salt and pepper and some of the new spices from Super King, which I had never used before, called Aleppo Zaatar and Lemon Comand.  I also added some of the balsamic roasted veggies and for good measure, I threw in some crumbled feta cheese.

Process the roasted tomatoes, onions and garlic in the food processor with 1/4 tsp cinnamon, salt and pepper. Put half of the mixture in the bottom on a roasting pan.

Stuff the peppers with the lentil mixture and then top with the remaining tomato mixture.  Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.

Enjoy!!

Polenta Stuffed Peppers

 What do you do when you have an abundance of anaheim chilies and fresh tomatoes?  How about polenta stuffed peppers, a side of black beans and as starters some fresh fig margaritas, flax seed chips and fresh guacamole.

For the guacamole, I used two avocados that my friend Laurie gave me right off her tree.  I added them to the food processor with some scallions, two small tomatoes, a piece of red pepper from the jar, some peperoncini, garlic, lime juice, fresh parsley, cumin, chili powder and S&P.  

  

 In the mean time, I slit the chilies lengthwise and removed the seeds.  I placed them slit side down on a cookie sheet.  I then cut three tomatoes in half and a red onion in quarters, drizzled them with olive oil and put them skin side down on another cookies sheet. I roasted all the veggies at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes or so.

While the veggies were roasting in the oven, we enjoyed the guacamole, some healthy chips (yeah right) with flax seeds and some margaritas.  I made them in the blender with tequilla, lime juice, triple sec, lots of ice and added some fresh figs which gave it a pretty pink color.  

The stuffed peppers are ready to go in the oven to bake.  To make them:  1.  Put the roasted tomatoes and onions in the food processor with about 1/4 tsp. cinnamon and S&P to taste.  2.  Put half of the mixture on the bottom of a 13x9" glass baking pan.  3.  Open a tube of polenta that you can buy at Trader Joe's.  Of course you can go to the trouble to make polenta from corn meal but this is so much easier.  I had thought you could only slice this polenta roll but no, just put it in a bowl and mash it with your hands or a spoon.  4.  To the polenta I added a 10 oz. bag of thawed frozen roasted corn 5.  To the polenta and corn, I added some goat cheese and feta cheese - about 1/3 cup or so.  I didn't add any salt since the feta is pretty salty on its own.  6.  I stuffed each pepper with the mixture and put each in the glass pan.  7.  Cover the stuffed peppers with the remaining tomato/onion mixture.  8.  Bake 350 degrees for about 25 minutes.  9.  Serve covered with chopped scallions.  

A delicious and nutritious meal.