Chicken kiev was a household favourite when I was growing up. It’s not surprising, really. How do you make chicken taste better? Surely you stuff it with butter and herbs.
This recipe is just like chicken kiev but hold the butter, meat and heart attack. Hippie Lane’s stuffed capsicums are healthy, vegan and free from gluten—so not like chicken kiev at all really.
“I’m a fan of stuffed anything. I’m always on the lookout for any new vegetable that I can stuff… literally! It must be my mum’s influence as she used to make stuffed eggplant, capsicum and zucchini for us all the time. This stuffed capsicum dish isn’t based on my mum’s traditional recipe but is a ripper veggie variation. Quinoa is always in fashion with me and plays the star role in the stuffing, alongside a medley of vegetables and spices that make this dish a taste bomb,” says Taline Gabrielian, founder of Hippie Lane.
Does everything taste better stuffed? We think so.
Stuffed Capsicums
SERVES 4
VGN | DF | GF | RSF | NF
Ingredients
4 capsicums (peppers), in a mix of colours, cut in half lengthways, then hollowed out
1 teaspoon olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
300 g (10½ oz/1½ cups) quinoa
625 ml (21½ fl oz/2½ cups) vegetable stock, plus an extra 125 ml
(4½ fl oz/½ cup) vegetable stock
1 tablespoon tomato paste (concentrated purée)
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
1 red onion, finely diced
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 long red chilli, diced (optional)
2 ripe tomatoes, peeled and diced
1 teaspoon Himalayan salt, or to taste
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon dried basil
15 g (½ oz/¼ cup) nutritional yeast, plus an extra 2 tablespoons for sprinkling
200 g (7 oz/1 cup) cooked corn kernels
75 g (1½ oz/½ cup) cooked fresh or frozen peas
175 g (6 oz/1 cup) cooked or tinned black beans, rinsed and drained
Method
- Preheat the oven to 170ºC (325ºF). Place the capsicum halves on a baking tray lined with baking paper and lightly massage with 1 teaspoon olive oil.
- Put the quinoa and 625 ml (21½ fl oz/2½ cups) vegetable stock in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 10–12 minutes, or until the stock is absorbed and the quinoa is cooked. Set aside to cool slightly.
- Mix the 125 ml (4½ fl oz/½ cup) vegetable stock with the tomato paste and set aside.
- Heat the grapeseed oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Sauté the onion for 2–3 minutes, or until translucent. Add the garlic and chilli and sauté for a further 1–2 minutes.
- Stir in the diced tomatoes, then add the tomato paste mixture, salt, pepper, tbasil and the 15 g (½ oz/¼ cup) nutritional yeast. Remove from the heat when the mixture begins to bubble.
- In a large bowl, combine the corn, peas, black beans and quinoa. Add the tomato mixture and fold through well.
- Evenly scoop the mixture into the capsicum halves. Drizzle with a little extra olive oil, then transfer to the oven and bake for 15 minutes.
- Sprinkle the extra nutritional yeast over the capsicum halves and bake for a further 10–20 minutes, or until cooked to your liking.
- Transfer to a serving platter and enjoy straight away.
If there’s one thing we’ve learnt from making Taline Gabrielian’s creations it’s that everything she has a hand in tastes next-level. Don’t believe us? Try her cherry bites, spiced ginger, pecan and pear granola and insta-worthy rainbow rolls.
Images and recipes from Hippie Lane: The Cookbook by Taline Gabrielian (Murdoch Books, RRP $39.99).
