With Dried Cherries and Saffron Rice
This is a flavorful Israeli stuffed peppers combined with dried cherries and saffron rice, diverse spices and fresh herbs for a bright weeknight meal. They are filling and healthy and packed with flavor. Perfect for the vegans in your life or for your meatless dinner.
Stuffed peppers are a classic vegetarian entree, maybe a bit less popular these days, but a common dish nonetheless!
Israeli Stuffed Peppers
This recipe is quite simple, despite the laundry list appearance of the ingredient list. I prooooomise you have most of the ingredients already in your pantry/fridge!
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup Saffron Rice
- 1 cube Not Beef Bouillon
- 1/3 cup Textured Vegetable Protein
- 1 Carrot
- 1 Onion
- 3 cloves Garlic
- 2 Anaheim Peppers
- 1/4 cup Almonds
- 1 1/4 teaspoons Israeli Spice Blend
- 2 tablespoon Cherries Dried
- 4 ounces Baby Spinach
- 7 teaspoon Olive Oil Extra virgin
- 1 tablespoon Salt & Pepper To taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 °F (219 °C). Add the saffron rice, 1 1/4 cups water, and a pinch of salt to a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and cook until all of the water is absorbed and the grains are tender about 15 to 20 minutes.
- Add the bouillon cube to a medium bowl, cover with ⅓ cup hot tap water, and mix to dissolve. Add the textured vegetable protein to the bowl and stir.
- Peel and dice the carrot. Peel and dice the onion. Peel and thinly slice 3 cloves garlic. Butterfly the Anaheim peppers by slicing down one side from stem to tail, and gently remove the seeds and white pith.
- Place a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat with 1 tbsp olive oil. Once the oil is hot, add the diced carrot, diced onion, half the sliced garlic, and a pinch of salt. Cook until softened, about 5 to 6 minutes.
- Increase the heat to high and add 1 tbsp olive oil and the textured vegetable protein mix. Cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp in places, about 4 to 6 minutes more.
- Add the almonds, Israeli spice blend, and dried cherries to the skillet. Cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Gently open the Anaheim peppers and stuff with the filling. Place the stuffed peppers on a baking sheet and roast in the oven until tender, about 8 to 10 minutes.
- Return the empty skillet to high heat and add 1 tsp olive oil and the remaining sliced garlic. Once hot, add the baby spinach and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook until wilted, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Fluff the saffron rice with a fork. Divide the rice between plates and top with the Israeli stuffed peppers. Serve with the sautéed spinach on the side.
Notes
MAKE IT IN ADVANCE: The filling and sauce can be prepared a day in advance to make for easy pre-dinner prep.
*ISRAELI SPICE BLEND: Curious about it? It is za’tar spice.
**ANAHEIM PEPPERS: You can use bell peppers instead especially if you feel like there’ll be plenty of filling.
***TEXTURED VEGETABLE PROTEIN: It’s used in place of ground beef but without the fat, cholesterol and sodium. 100g of TVP has 80 calories, 0 fat, 0 cholesterol, and 12 g protein while the same amount of ground beef has 332 calories, 30g fat, 78 mg cholesterol, 67 mg sodium, and 14g protein. TVP costs pennies too.
