Preheat oven to 400 degrees. While oven is preheating, put tomatoes in a dish that has been sprayed lightly with cooking spary, lightly salt and pepper tomatoes, and roast 15 minutes.
While tomatoes are roasting, put 1 cup of rice and 2 cups of water on over medium heat. Bring to a boil and then turn down to low and add a cover. Salt and pepper to taste. I used about ¼ tsp. salt and 6 grinds of pepper. Cook for the time recommended on the package or about 20-30 minutes if you are unsure.
Cut tops off of peppers, clean out seeds and membrane, and add to a baking dish cut side down so steam can get trapped in the peppers. Make sure the dish you are using will hold the peppers together and has high sides so that the peppers can later soak in a tomato bath. As soon as the tomatoes are out of the oven, put the peppers in the oven, 10 minutes with top on the baking vessel to steam.
If using lentils, start the lentils. I put 1 cup lentils, 2 cups water, a minced garlic clove and some salt in a pot over medium heat. Once boiling, turn down to low and cook 15-20 minutes. French Green Lentils don’t get as mushy when you cook them as the traditional brown lentils, so overcooking wasn’t as much of an issue with these.
Once lentils are in water, start cooking the onion, garlic, carrot and celery over medium heat in a lightly sprayed sauté pan with ½ tsp. salt and few grinds of pepper. Sauté until veggies are tender, 8-10 minutes. In the last 3 minutes of cooking, add the kale and the juice of one lemon and about 4 tablespoons of water. Cover the pan and allow the kale to wilt. Add the roasted tomatoes to the veggie mixture and allow to cool.
If using ground turkey, start the turkey once the veggies are cooking. Add a few dashes of season salt and cook until no longer pink (8-10 minutes over medium heat).
In a large pan, add the diced tomatoes (both cans), 2-3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, a bay leaf, Italian seasoning, ½ to 1 tsp. salt and 10 grinds of black pepper. I tried to keep this pretty basic but feel free to add whatever you like. Also if you are short on time, please feel free to just have a jar of your favorite tomato sauce on hand for this. Cook over medium low heat until the flavors have had time to come together, about 10 minutes.
As ingredients begin to be finished, take off the heat to cool. Once all ingredients are done, combine rice, lentils or turkey, and veggie mixture in a large bowl or pot and stir until ingredients are distributed equally. The tomato sauce will go outside of the peppers so don’t add it to this mix.
Turn peppers right side up, and fill with a large soup spoon, making sure to really press down and get the peppers stuffed full!
Carefully add the tomato mixture to the sides of the peppers, making sure to get between the peppers as well. You may need to add a little water to ensure the liquid is up to at least two thirds of the peppers. Cover dish with lid or foil and bake at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes.
Carefully remove and uncover. Allow to cool 5 minutes.
Leftovers should be stored in an airtight container for 3 days.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition Facts
Amount per Serving
Calories
450
Fat
4
g
Carbohydrates
69
g
Fiber
11
g
Sugar
19
g
Protein
35
g
Where does nutrition info come from? Nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy, sourced from the USDA Food Database.
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