With nutmeg and just a hint of cinnamon, these stuffed bell peppers are full of delicious flavor! Using lentils and riced cauliflower, I took a hearty meal from my childhood and not only made it vegan but cut out some starches as well.

If you’ve read my story, you already know about my last week living at my mom’s house before going out on my own. I spent that entire week going through her recipes and copying them all down onto index cards. My first six months or so on my own I was constantly running into problems in the kitchen. How do I boil water?!?! Haha, just kidding, it wasn’t that bad, but I was continuously calling mom on the phone to ask cooking questions. With a calling card! Remember those? Because it was long distance! Remember that? LOL!

I still remember the first time I made mom’s stuffed bell peppers. I wasn’t vegan yet so I was going by her exact recipe. Well… I sort of was going by her exact recipe. When it came time to put in the nutmeg I realized, I DIDN’T HAVE ANY NUTMEG! What was I to do? I instead used some cinnamon, which actually gave them a nice, little twist. I remember my friend Monique was at my house that night and she said, “Mmm… cinnamon.” From then on, I did end up buying and using the nutmeg, but also added just a dash of cinnamon. My own special touch. This was probably the first recipe of mom’s that I tweaked, just a little, to make my own.

Like I said, in those days I wasn’t vegan quite yet, and I definitely wasn’t worried about how much rice I ate. This was my first time veganizing one of mom’s recipes. And the cauliflower, well… I’ve been kind of going crazy on starches lately; so I decided we could cut it back some. With Thanksgiving just passed and Christmas well on its way, it won’t hurt to watch what we’re eating some.

With making these major substitutes, was I expecting them to taste the same? Absolutely not. I wasn’t trying for exact replicas. I wanted something healthier, but still with great flavor. If I were going for exact replicas, I’d have used Gardein Beefless Ground and some good ol’ white rice, rather than lentils and cauliflower. That just wasn’t what I was wanting or craving. I wanted to make a new recipe, full of veggies and with some of the same yummy seasonings.

Does that still constitute as, “Mom’s Stuffed Bell Peppers?” Hmm… why not? I did totally go by her recipe, for amounts and seasonings. I just kinda tweaked the ingredients some.  How about, these are “Tiffani’s Rendition of Mom’s Stuffed Bell Peppers?” Haha, that would have been too long.

I did make one other notable change. When I was a kid, I honestly wasn’t a fan of bell peppers, or rice to be honest. I remember my favorite bites were the ones on top that had all the cheese on them! Mom used to even slice them in half lengthwise, rather than just cutting the tops off, so there could be even more cheese. Since I was going for healthy, and because I do way too much store-bought faux cheese, I decided against going with vegan cheddar shreds for this recipe. I thought about a cashew cheese, but I decided a dollop of my Cashew Sour Cream would go even better, which I add to the top after these have already cooked.

As I mentioned, I wasn’t going for an exact replica, and honestly, I was skeptical about this even working with the lentils and cauliflower. I was unsure if they would absorb the flavors as well as rice and meat do. My recipe experiments usually either turn out as good as I was expecting, good but not quite what I was hoping for, or sometimes just a total flop. These had me pleasantly surprised! They turned out even better than I remember! It was an amazing replica. The flavors were spot on, and the lentils and cauliflower — yum! At my first bite, I actually said, “Mmm…,” and I enjoyed every bite thereafter, not just the ones with the topping!

What adds to the delicious flavor of these is they are pretty simple to make. They do bake for a while, but getting them in the oven was a cinch. So few ingredients, I was again unsure. I kept thinking they needed some greens, “What about spinach? Or kale, yum kale! I have parsley in the fridge. What about just a little parsley!” I was having a Caesar salad as my side dish so I really didn’t need to have green in it, but I think I’m really just not used to using so few ingredients for something to go BAM! What I found out… I guess sometimes simple is better.

Another small change was mom used to only use green bell peppers. She’d buy green bell peppers for everything. When I was shopping I got lucky because yellow and orange peppers, which are usually the most expensive, just happened to be on sale. I wanted to make a colorful dish so I mixed up the peppers I bought, making sure to have at least one of every color.

When I decided I was doing mom’s recipe, I reached up in the cupboard above my stove and pulled down my old recipe box containing the index cards I wrote so many years back. My recipe box used to be my grandmother’s, so when I say old, I really mean it! I found the recipe easily, but it was so worn with water and food stains I did have problems reading it in a couple spots!

This recipe stuffs approximately five bell peppers. A couple of the peppers I bought were rather small and I was able to fill six. After cutting the tops off of these and removing the seeds and fibers, I parboiled them five minutes. After five minutes I removed them from the water immediately.

While the bell peppers boiled I started my filling. First, in a large skillet, I sautéed a diced yellow onion with a little garlic over medium heat until the onions started to become translucent. I then added the cauliflower and let everything cook for about six minutes on medium, stirring occasionally.

I next stirred in the tomato sauce, covered the skillet with a lid, turned the heat down to medium-low, and left it at a light simmer for another six minutes. After that, I added the lentils and spices, stirred everything well, and turned off the heat. I could now stuff the peppers. It was so easy!

I placed the stuffed bell peppers in a lightly greased baking dish and covered the dish with aluminum foil. The peppers now baked in the oven for 50-60 minutes. I removed mine after 55 minutes, first making sure the bottoms were soft and could be easily pierced with a fork.

The cashew sour cream I made while the bell peppers were in the oven. This is the same delicious cashew cream I put in my Soyrizo Enchiladas! To make it is really easy. I put all the ingredients in the food processor and let them blend until everything was completely smooth. After that, I transferred it to a small saucepan and heated it on the stove right before using.

To serve, I topped each bell pepper with a dollop of the warmed Cashew Sour Cream. I knew when I was making these that the Cashew Sour Cream was going to go perfectly with them, and boy was I right! It complimented the flavors of the bell pepper perfectly! I can’t even imagine them anymore with the cheddar I loved on top when I was a kid.

Making this recipe was not only fun for me, but also really special since it was something from my childhood, which I hold dear. A lot of times when we try to recreate omnivorous recipes we end up using really unhealthy processed replacements. Since I made sure that wasn’t the case with these, I ended up with one of my healthiest recipes I think I’ve ever added to the site! What’s even better is that these aren’t just healthy and delicious, but simple to make as well! I feel like I really hit a home run with this one, and I hope after trying them, you will feel the same!

If you do make these and love them as I do, please take a picture and tag me on Instagram, @veggiesattiffanis, or leave a comment or review on my Veggies at Tiffani’s Facebook page.