Unstuffed Peppers

As anyone who's taken a look through my recipes know, I'm all about keeping things easy. (Life's busy enough as it is!) This past weekend I found myself with plenty of time...for a nap. After that nap I rummaged through the pantry to see what we had on hand for lunch, and realized I could make two stuffed peppers...or try unstuffing them to make a proper meal.

What follows is a blend of a few recipes, leaning heavily on this lovely recipe for Romanian-style stuffed peppers and my own tastes of course. I had originally intended to mix the rice in with the sauce as one would when preparing stuffed peppers, but decided to plate the sauce over the rice instead and mix at the table, which worked out wonderfully. I hope you enjoy this quick 'n easy taste of stuffed peppers as much as we did!

Unstuffed Peppers

(6 servings*)

Ingredients

500g / 1lb of ground beef or ground pork** or 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 200g of rehydrated TVP

2 bell peppers (chopped***)

1 large carrot (shredded)

1 medium onion (chopped)

1/2 cup of sauerkraut

5 cloves of garlic (crushed/minced)

Black pepper (to taste)

Dill (to taste)

Paprika (to taste)

Parsley (to taste)

Salt or bouillon powder (to taste)

650ml/22oz of spaghetti sauce

Cooked rice (as needed)

Fresh dill (to garnish)

Sour cream (to garnish)

*This approximation is based on serving about a cup of the unstuffed peppers over a cup's worth of rice.

**Or a mixture of the two!

***Chopped into 1/2-inch/1cm pieces.

Directions

1) Sauté the meat or the olive oil with the bell pepper, carrot, onion, and sauerkraut, draining the excess grease (if using meat) once the onion and pepper begin to soften.

2) Add the garlic and seasonings and sauté another minute or two until fragrant. (Go easy on the salt or bouillon powder, you can always taste at the end and add more if you want to.)

3) Stir in the spaghetti sauce and TVP and simmer everything for 15 to 30 minutes to allow the flavors to deepen. (This is one of those recipes that will taste best the next day as the flavors continue to deepen.)

4) Serve over your favorite rice, garnish with sour cream (if you're not aiming for a vegan dish) and fresh dill if possible, and enjoy!