Stuffed red peppers with kale and black rice
This deliciously light and colourful recipe certainly has the ‘wow’ factor. It’s packed full of nutrients with the kale and you’ll get your healthy daily dose of fibre with the black rice, veggies and pine nuts.
Feel free to adapted the recipe by substituting the kale for spinach, or Swiss chard, and pine nuts for other nuts such as walnuts.
Serves: 4
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 40
Ingredients
2 tbsps olive oil
150g black rice, pre-cooked according to instructions
4 red bell peppers
50g pine nuts, lightly toasted
2 garlic cloves, crushed
140g cherry tomatoes, finely chopped
200g kale
1 medium onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
100g Parmesan (or vegan parmesan) cheese, grated
Juice of 1 lemon
¼ tsp salt
black pepper to taste
Method
Pre heat oven to 200C fan. Halve the peppers lengthwise through the stems, leaving them attached. Remove the seeds. Lightly brush the peppers outside and inside with olive oil; sprinkle the insides with salt and pepper. Place, cut-side down, in a baking dish. Bake until peppers are just tender, 10 – 15 minutes. Let cool slightly. Turn cut-side up.
To prepare the filling: Bring 500ml of salted water to boil in a large pan. Stir in the kale, cover and cook until tender, 10 minutes. Drain, rinse under cold water; squeeze until dry. Finely chop.
Heat oil in a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Add onion and gently fry for 3 minutes, add the chopped red pepper; cook, stirring often, until onion is golden, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds, add the tomatoes, stir and cook for a couple of minutes, then stir in the kale. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly. Stir in the rice, Parmesan, 2 tablespoons pine nuts and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Divide the filling among the pepper halves. Sprinkle with the remaining pine nuts.
Cover the peppers with foil and bake until heated through, about 15 to 20 minutes. Uncover and bake for 5 minutes more. Serve hot, or cold.