These days any dishes I make in the Bariatric Cookery kitchen have to work hard for their living! It’s often not enough to just be a tasty accompaniment but also frequently need to be stand-alone dishes too. Many of us just don’t have the time to cook from scratch every day and so mix and match dishes are the way forward – the ones that can be eaten as a dish in themselves; mixed up with others to make a new meal; re-purposed as leftovers; or chill and keep or freeze well for ‘another time’ eating.
This dish ticks all the boxes – I made it today to go with some roast chicken but it will also make a great meal in itself (and a vegetarian option too). I would also be happy to serve this cold as part of a buffet spread and know any leftovers can be used in a bake or popped in the freezer for another meal.
And what’s more it isn’t time-intensive to make – I have even cut down the preparation by using a sachet of ready-cooked lentils (puy and green in a tomatoey mix) so it can be on the table in under 30 minutes.
So I recommend this stuffed Romano pepper/capsicum dish to you – I shall be having it for lunch today as a stand-alone dish sprinkled with a little feta – served on the Bariatric Portion Plate with Bariatric Portion Control Cutlery for accountability.
STUFFED ROMANO PEPPERS/CAPSICUMS WITH LENTILS
Ingredients
METRIC/US
200 g/7 oz pack or 3 Romano mixed colour peppers/capsicums
low-fat cooking spray or mist
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 leek, finely sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
4 sun-dried tomatoes, snipped into pieces
250 g/8 oz pack ready-cooked lentils (I used Merchant Gourmet Tomatoey French puy and green lentils)
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200 C/400 F/gas mark 6.
- Halve the peppers/capsicums lengthwise through their stalks. Remove the seeds and spritz on all sides with low-fat cooking spray or mist. Place on a baking tray or ovenproof dish, season well and roast for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, generously spritz a pan with low-fat cooking spray or mist. Heat, add the leek, garlic and thyme and cook gently for about 10 minutes until soft and golden.
- Add the sun-dried tomatoes and lentils and cook for a further 5 minutes.
- Add the lemon juice and parsley, mixing well.
- Spoon the mixture into the peppers/capsicums and return to the oven for 5 minutes.
- Serve hot, warm or cold with a green salad if liked. For a higher protein offering top with crumbled feta, goat’s cheese or grated Parmesan before putting back in the oven for the final 5 minutes cooking.
SERVES 3
WLS PORTION: ½-1
V suitable for Vegetarians
CALORIES PER PORTION (without cheese): 165
PROTEIN: 7g
CARBOHYDRATE: 19.1g
FAT: 5.7g
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