Oh my, four years ago when I ventured into a mostly plant-based and gluten-free diet I had no idea what wonderful meals awaited. In those early years, planning a meal was hard and confusing. Wish I only had one of those looking glass balls to show me a glimpse of the amazing meals I would create and eat – Yes, all dairy, egg, meat and wheat free.
Truthfully, I have never felt this inventive and excited about cooking. I say, it’s time to embrace change in the kitchen ~ and embrace the wonderful world of powerful and nutritious plant-strong cooking.
I love food and nothing stopped me enjoying flavourful protein-rich tasty meals – if anything, I am loving what’s on my plate now – organic delicious inventive beautiful nutritious food.
With Easter coming up, I wanted to share with you a really stunning dish that I made that’s packed in protein, all organic and just beautiful to serve and enjoy…
Besides food tasting great and being nutritious, I do love a plate that is beautiful to look at. Doesn’t it just taste better when it’s pretty or is this just my personal observation? ;)
One dish you will love, are these HERBED TOFU STUFFED PEPPERS! These tri-coloured mini peppers were thrown in so quick with fresh and dried herbs, organic tofu and baked until soft ~ so simple to do, yet so great to devour into ;) Here is the recipe for this vegan, gluten-free recipe:
HERBED TOFU STUFFED PEPPERS | VEGAN & GLUTEN-FREE
- 8-10 mini tri-coloured peppers (red, orange and yellow)
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1/2 zucchini, chopped fine
- 1-2 cloves of garlic, minced or chopped fine
- 1 package of organic firm tofu*, cubed (about 1 1/2 cups)
- up to 1/4 cup non-dairy milk or 3 tablespoons of vegan mayo
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 – 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
- 1/2 – 1 tablespoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika powder
- fresh cracked black pepper to taste
- pinch of cayenne pepper
- grape seed oil for cooking
- fresh basil for plating
.
* be sure to always purchase only Organic tofu as soy is one of the top GMO foods. So are peppers! Of course, try to buy as much organic as possible…
Directions :
Preheat the oven to 350F and prep a non-aluminum baking sheet with parchment paper.
Clean and dry the peppers. Cut the ends off and scoop out the insides with a small spoon. Set aside.
In a frying pan, sautee the onion over low-medium until golden but not burned (any black spots will add a bitter taste to the recipe, so keep stirring often and keep the heat fairly low). Add the zucchini and garlic into the onion and cook together until all is softened, adding more oil if needed. Set aside to cool slightly.
In a food processor, pulse the tofu until it crumbles, add in all the ingredients from the pan, the milk or mayo and the herbs, pepper, cayenne pepper, sea salt. Pulse more to combine all the ingredients, but don’t overmix as some texture from the onions and zucchini is great in this recipe. Taste the mixture and adjust the seasoning to your liking.
Fill the peppers with the tofu mixture, place on the baking dish and drizzle with grape seed oil. Toss them to coat in the oil then sprinkle with extra dried basil and/or oregano, fresh thyme, a sprinkle of sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper.
Place in the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes, turning over once halfway through the cooking time. Serve straight from the oven or leave to cool for a few minutes before serving. Enjoy.
This is one particular dish that I can’t wait to make again. I served it with brown rice and it was just perfect as a whole dinner with a side salad. But I can just imagine this as a great side dish on a potluck party or part of any family meals ~ weekday or special occasions.
And I also can’t wait to put these babies right on the grill! For this weekend though, they will be lovely to bring to our family dinner at my father-in-law’s. Can’t wait!
Summer Grilling Idea :
So here’s a great idea if you’re going out to a BBQ – make these ahead of time and bring with you to the party and grill them fresh right there with all the other grilling! This will be a great gesture on your part to bring a sharing dish and everyone will love them. Plus they will be delicious straight off the grill and you’ll get to eat something healthier and delicious!
♥
Pure Ella
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Blogger, Recipe Developer, Photographer and Author. Loves healthy food, photography, sunshine and dancing in the kitchen with her two daughters. 
YUM, I am drooling over here :)
When posting a tofu recipe, could you please specify a weigh or cup measure. I used a pound, as that’s how tofu comes around here. The peppers turned out quite bland, probably because I had 2 cups of filling left over. All the spices were way too diluted. Could’ve gotten by with 5 to 6 oz of tofu.
Just a thought! Thanks.
Thanks Barb for the tip to include the size.
Too bad it didn’t have a great flavour for you – you’re right, not enough spices for that amount of tofu. I also mentioned “Taste the mixture and adjust the seasoning to your liking.” in the recipe – as tofu can be very bland in most recipes if not seasoned properly.
Tasting helps a lot ;)
Thanks for trying out the recipe ~ I’m sure you will be happy with it next time when you try it ;) It sure is good ;)
Sending my best, Ella
I didn’t have squash so I played around with spinach and added some leftover rice for builk since I used large bell peppers. I’m excited about using this as a base!
I can’t get over how gorgeous these are — and yes, you totally eat with your eyes first, so it makes a difference! And I love the tofu filling. Definitey gonna give ’em a shot.
Thanks Emily! ;)
Enjoy the recipe ~ do let me know how you like it! xoxo ella
This looks fabulous! My mum is coming to visit me in a couple of weeks, I’m sure she’d love to have this for dinner. Thanks for sharing this beautiful recipe xoxo
Thank you! ;) I think it will be a great dish to make for your mom ;) I think the older generation appreciates cabbage a little more ;) lol
xoxo ella