Veal Stuffed Bell Peppers

I really enjoy preparing these veal stuffed bell peppers. They are quite versatile and can either be served as a side or main dish, or even as an appetizer. They can even be served for breakfast with a cooked egg on top, for lunch with a salad on the side or for dinner with any of your favorite main Paleo dish. I just love the taste of all the herbs, vegetables and ground veal combined into one larger vegetable. The raisins added in the recipe add some sweetness to the whole dish, making for a perfect combination of sweet and savory. Of course, the raisins are totally optional, especially if you start seeing too much sugar creep-in into your diet.

These stuffed peppers are quite filling, sometimes I’m even full after eating only one. I also often double my recipe so I have leftovers for the whole week, especially when I know it’s going to be a busy week and won’t have the time to cook many big meals. I simply grab one stuffed bell pepper leftover from the refrigerator, heat it up and I’m ready to go.

On the nutrition side, bell peppers are a really good source of vitamin C, which is an essential and very powerful antioxidant. The red and orange ones, other than adding vibrant colors to the dish, are especially high in vitamin C compared to the green one. That makes bell peppers a really good choice for a diet high in micronutrients.

It’s good to keep in mind though that both bell peppers and tomatoes are in the nightshade family of vegetables and can cause digestive issues in some people. Instead, if you do better without nightshades, you can easily replace the bell peppers with portobello mushrooms and the tomatoes with carrots. If nightshades are not an issue, but you don’t really enjoy bell peppers, I find that eggplants also make for a good combination with the veal and the other ingredients. If you do decide do make some changes and go with eggplants, remember that they take more time to cook so you’ll need to adjust your preparation accordingly.

Veal stuffed bell peppers recipe

SERVES: 4-6 PREP: 20 min. COOK: 45 min.

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Ingredients

• 2 red bell peppers;
• 2 orange or yellow bell peppers;
• 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil;
• 1 red onion minced;
• 1 clove garlic minced;
• 1 red bell pepper minced;
• 1 lb ground veal;
• 10 oz cherry tomatoes;
• 1 oz raisins;
• Zest from one lemon;
• 1 tbsp fresh oregano, minced;
• 1 tbsp fresh cilantro, minced;
• 1 tbsp fresh marjoram, minced;
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste;

Preparation

1. Preheat your oven to 350F.
2. Cut 2 red bell peppers and 2 orange or yellow bell peppers in half. Remove the seeds and the white membrane. Wash the peppers thoroughly.
3. Place the bell peppers on a cooking dish and apply 1 tbsp of olive oil all over the bell peppers making sure they’re all covered.
4. Place the bell peppers in the oven for 20 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, on a medium-high heat, preheat 2 tbsp of olive oil.
6. Add the garlic, the onions and the minced peppers for 2 min or cook until they soften. Once the vegetables are soft, add the veal and season to taste with salt and pepper.
7. When the meat is almost cooked through, add the cherry tomatoes, raisins, lemon zest and fresh herbs and cook for another few minutes.
8. Stuff all the pre-cooked bell peppers with the veal mixture.
9. Cover the bell peppers with some aluminium foil and place in the oven for 25 minutes.
10. Remove the foil and cook again for another 5 to 10 minutes.
11. Serve as either a side or main dish.