Stuffed roast peppers with rice and veggies recipe

Stuffed roast peppers are one of those dishes that I love eating at the retreat and at home. In this recipe we use rice plus some lovely Autumnal veggies, like carrot and squash, to create a nutritious and filling evening meal.

When selecting your peppers, I always like to include a mixture of colours – red, yellow and green, to create a feast for the eyes on your plate. However, they do taste slightly different, red peppers tend to be a little sweeter than green. If pumpkins are available in your local vegetable shop, then you can use pumpkin instead of squash.

The long slow roasting at the lower temperature is what will help to make the peppers even more scrummy and delightfully soft – they might start to turn a little brown, which is fine.

Cooking tip: Sometimes peppers can topple over when you cook them. If the base of your pepper is a little uneven, you can make a small trim off to create a flatter base, or use a small roasting pan with high sides that you can lean the peppers against.

Time saving tip: Whenever you cook a batch of rice, add in an extra portion or two. Cooked rice will keep in the fridge in an airtight container for a day or two and is perfect for making this recipe, so long as you are going to eat it all (it is best not to reheat rice more than once). This recipe gives instructions on cooking from scratch, so if you already have cooked rice available then miss out the first instruction.

Stuffed roast peppers with rice and veggies recipe

Serves: 8
Calories: 1,190 total, 148 per pepper

Allergens: none

Ingredients

1 cup brown rice
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 small red onion, peeled and diced
1 leek, finely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and finely diced
1 cup butternut squash, finely chopped
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 garlic cloves
1 tbsp dried thyme
pinch of turmeric
1 tsp black pepper
2 cups finely diced mushrooms
Bunch of fresh parsley, roughly chopped
Handful fresh thyme, finely chopped
1 tbsp nutritional yeast

10 large peppers (red or mixed) (this gives 2 spare)

Garnish: fresh parsley

Method

Cook the brown rice in water, together with the bayleaf and dried oregano – for 30-45 minutes (see packet instructions). Once cooked, drain, rinse in cold water and drain well. Place to one side.

Meanwhile, cook the onion and leek in a frying pan (using water to prevent sticking) for 7-8 minutes until starting to soften. Add the carrot and squash, plus 2 tbsp lemon juice. Continue to cook for a further 5 minutes – add more water if needed.

Add the rest of the lemon juice, garlic, dried thyme, turmeric, black pepper and mushrooms. Continue to cook for 2-3 minutes. You want to let the liquid start to boil off, so that by the time the carrot is cooked, all the liquid has evaporated. Remove from the heat and place the veggie mix into a bowl with the cold brown rice.  

Add the cherry tomatoes, parsley, thyme, and nutritional yeast, stirring together. 

Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F/ Gas mark 4. 

Slice the top off the peppers and scoop out the seeds carefully without breaking through the bottom of the pepper. Put the top part of the pepper to one side for use later.

Spoon the rice and veggie mixture into the peppers. Put the top of the pepper onto the top. Place the peppers into an oven proof dish.  

Put into the oven and bake for 60 minutes. Serve hot.

Plant-based recipes on our blog

This dish would be complimented by some freshly cooked broccoli, and a dish containing a source of vegan protein. You might like to try one of these plant-based recipes: 

• Chickpea and aubergine bites
• Homemade lentil stew
• Lentil sausages

You can also read more about sources of vegan protein in our article: vegan protein – what is it and how do I get it?

Plant-based food at La Crisalida Retreats Spain

Plant-based food is a great basis for creating health and wellbeing, so here at La Crisalida Retreats all the dishes are plant-based. We offer a buffet for every meal, freshly prepared from scratch every day by our talented kitchen team. Menus are seasonal, to make the most of the abundance of fresh produce here in Spain. Read more about food at La Crisalida Retreats here. There are lots more plant-based recipes on our health and wellbeing blog. Let me know how you get on!

All of the food served at La Crisalida Retreats is plant-based (vegan), freshly prepared in our kitchen every day. You can sample from five or six dishes every meal, trying inspiring vegan dishes. The menus are designed with maximum nutrition and health in mind, but at the same time, include a variety of colours, textures, ingredients and flavours. Try them for yourself, come on a holistic health and wellbeing retreat in Spain.