Tomato Lentil Couscous Stuffed Peppers

Soooooo excited about this dish! It came out amazingly well. It's always fun to cook with foods you've never tried before. Or combine ingredients that don't usually go together. When you do, and when it comes out to be a delicious masterpiece, well that's when it feels like a huge personal accomplishment. I'm gonna just pat myself on the back and say, well done Jilly, well done. Here's the story of my masterpiece...

I had lentils and couscous sitting in my cupboards, just waiting to be used so when I stumbled across this recipe by accident it seemed like it was just what I was looking for.


This is a fun meal! My husband enjoyed it because, though he isn't much into anything exotic such as couscous, quinoa, or tofu (Lancaster County boy at heart), he is willing to try ANYTHING I make. He's that supportive. Also, the recipe calls for ground beef, so that'll make any man happy. (gotta throw 'em a bone every once in a while...)


The original recipe on AllRecipes.com calls for a package of tomato lentil couscous mix, I'm assuming you can find that at any grocery store. Has anyone out there ever used this? I didn't bother looking because I had all those things presently sitting, unused, in my kitchen. I just used actual diced tomatoes (from a can), lentils, and couscous instead. It was a lot more complicated because you had to heat everything up separately, but it came together nicely. I also cheated and cooked the lentils in the microwave since that took less time.


Unfortunately, I only had 2 green peppers left in my kitchen. I bought a lot this week, but used them all while making my cheese steak bread bake and green bean casserole dishes. Luckily, I only make dinner for 2 people, so it works out. However, I had a ton of leftovers. I put them in a small casserole dish (pictured at right), topped them with cheese, and baked that in the oven. Lunch for tomorrow! woo-hoo! 

Ingredients:

• 6 green bell peppers
• 3/4 pound ground beef
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 8 oz of chunky pasta sauce (I used light ragu)
• 1 can of diced tomatoes
• 1 cup of couscous
• 1 cup of lentils
• 8 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese
• salt & pepper, to taste
• 
  

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Brown ground beef in skillet.

Cook couscous according to directions or mix couscous with 1 cup of boiling water with 1 tbsp of butter & 1 tsp of salt. 

Cook lentils according to directions or microwave lentils in 2 cups of water in a microwave safe dish for 14 minutes. 

Meanwhile, cut off tops of green peppers. Carve out insides. (see pictures above)

Once meat is cooked, add onion & garlic and cook until tender.

Stir in pasta sauce & tomatoes into skillet with beef mixture, lower heat and simmer.

Stir in couscous & lentils to beef mixture.

Place peppers in a baking dish and fill with mixture.

Press down mixture into peppers and top with cheese.

Bake in oven for 20 to 30 minutes until cheese is bubbly and slightly brown. 

I would love to know that you visited my blog or tried out a recipe. Leave me some love & encouragement!

Curried Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

One of my favorite blogs to read is Roni's Weigh. She also has several other blogs, one of which is Green Lite Bites which has good recipe resources. I stole this recipe from her website and was able to cook it up for my family this past weekend as a side dish for Sunday lunch. I was first introduced to quinoa from another blog called Leading the Weigh (another weight watchers inspired blog) and I was looking for other ways to include quinoa into my meals besides the shrimp & veggies which I usually make with it. Though I don't eat a lot of Indian-spiced food, this was a great recipe and my in-laws surprisingly enjoyed it. Even Grandpa Fisher was raving about it! That was the best part.