Vegan Stuffed Red Peppers sharing a dish with Roasted Onions and Fennel

These vegan stuffed red peppers are a perfect Thanksgiving side dish or main dish for vegetarians.  They are gluten-free, low oxalate and have all the traditional holiday flavors you love.  Although fennel seed – a traditional flavor in Thanksgiving stuffing- is high oxalate, fennel seed tea is low oxalate and gives the same flavor to the stuffing.  Even better, the fennel tea gives the illusion that these vegan stuffed red peppers contain sausage, a nice surprise for vegetarians who miss some of the flavors of their childhood.

Hope you enjoy vegan stuffed red peppers, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Vegan Stuffed Red Peppers

1 fennel seed tea bag (UK readers click here)
1 cup apple cider
1 cup long grain white rice
2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried sage
2 T olive oil
1/2 cup diced celery
1 cup diced onions
1 1/2 cups Granny Smith apples, peeled and finely diced (about 2 apples)
1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
1 teaspoon white pepper (UK readers click here)
1/2 cup dried cranberries (UK readers click here)
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds (UK readers click here)
6 medium red bell peppers, tops cut off and hollowed
fresh thyme sprigs for garnish (optional)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium saucepan, bring 1 cup water and the apple cider to boil and add the fennel tea bag.  Brew the tea for about five minutes, then remove the tea bag.  Add the rice, thyme and sage. Cover the pot and return to boiling.  Simmer the rice, covered, until all liquid is absorbed (about 20 minutes).

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Saute the celery, onions, apples, salt and pepper in the hot oil until they are softened (about five minutes).  Combine the cooked rice, sauteed vegetables and fruit.  Stir in the cranberries and the pumpkin seeds.  Spoon the stuffing into the bell peppers, then stand the peppers upright in a baking dish.  Put the top back on if desired (or cut it up for a salad).

Bake for 30 – 35 minutes or until the peppers are tender and stuffing in heated through.  To serve, garnish with a thyme sprig if desired.

Low Oxalate Info:  All ingredients in vegan stuffed red peppers are low oxalate except for the medium oxalate celery (7.o mg. oxalate per half cup) and pumpkin seeds (6.2 mg. oxalate per half cup). Each vegan stuffed red pepper has about 10.3 mg. oxalate (which is still low oxalate since each of these peppers is actually 2-3 servings of veggie/rice/fruit).  These peppers are large and filling!  Vegans and vegetarians might enjoy these with a salad.  Meat-eaters might enjoy them with roasted turkey or chicken.

Where to buy fennel seed tea:  I buy fennel seed tea, loose or in tea bags, in the natural foods section of my large chain grocery store.  Most natural food stores in the US, Cananda and the UK should carry fennel seed tea as it is a very popular digestive aid, weight loss aid, and herbal remedy for gas, bloating and menstruation troubles. You may also order fennel seed tea from Amazon or directly from your favorite tea company.  I really like Alvita brand herbal teas (US readers click here and UK readers click here. Sorry Canadian readers, I’m having trouble finding an on-line source for you. Let me know if you have one.) Or you might try one of these (US readers click here and UK readers click here). Any herbal tea that is made from fennel seed (without extra ingredients) should be low oxalate (3.0 mg. oxalate per cup) and should work well as a substitute for fennel seeds in recipes that call for fennel seeds plus some kind of liquid.

Photo credits go to avlxyz for just baked and karmadude for fennel seeds.

As a single mom, I’m too busy to make separate meals to keep the low oxalate, medium oxalate and “regular’ dieters in my family happy.  One of my solutions is to cook dishes where the high or medium oxalate ingredients can be added at the end of preparation (or at the table), allowing me to keep low-oxalate foods “separate” from the rest of the family’s meal without a lot of extra work.  Apple pineapple salad is one of those dishes.

Aidan eats his raw veggies.

Last summer I thought it would be a good idea to introduce my boys (then 18 months) to raw vegetables.  They thought otherwise.  Bits of broccoli, cabbage and zucchini ended up on the floor, on the cupboards, in my hair, in my sons’ ears—everywhere but in their mouths.  I kept offering and they kept refusing.  Then I read a newspaper column by celebrity chef and father of four, Wolfgang Puck.  He claimed a great way to get kids to try new foods was to introduce the new food gradually to something the child already likes.  He was specifically referring to herbs and spices, such as adding tiny amounts of cumin or turmeric to steamed cauliflower to introduce the taste of curry, but to me this seemed like a sensible approach for introducing any new food.

Soon I was on the couch, flipping through cookbooks for inspiration.  By the end of the evening I had developed this tasty fruit and veggie salad—one that quickly became a staple in our house.  I especially like that it introduces kids to fresh salads— something very important to me as an avid gardener and salad lover.  It’s also toddler-friendly as the whole salad is shredded or cut into tiny pieces.  Best of all, it’s easy for me to leave the high oxalate carrots out of my portion or to substitute other low oxalate veggies.

It’s been almost a year since I introduced this salad and my boys still won’t eat most raw vegetables.  But they love this salad—including the raw carrots and zucchini!

Apple Pineapple Salad

1 1/2 cups pineapple (or 1 can pineapple tidbits, packed in juice)
3 apples
1 small zucchini (about 1/2 cup when shredded)
1/3 cup raisins*
1 medium carrot,** shredded (about 1/2 cup) (see oxalate note)

Chop (or drain) the pineapple, reserving the juice.  Peel and core the apples.  Remove the ends from the zucchini and peel if desired. Shred the apples and zucchini and place them in a large serving bowl.  Add the pineapple and 1/3 cup of reserved juice.  Add the raisins and mix well.  This is the low oxalate version of Apple Pineapple salad.  You may eat the salad immediately or chill and serve it later. The pineapple juice keeps the apples from turning brown too quickly, so this salad can be made a few hours early or enjoyed the next day as a left-over.

For the non-low oxalate dieters in the house (or for those of you who can tolerate a little more oxalate in your diet), add shredded carrot to individual servings for a medium oxalate version of the salad (see oxalate note).  Carrots add a pretty color to the salad, making it a lot more attractive for dinner guests (including Grammy and Papa), plus carrots add great nutrients, fiber, and crunch!

Servings: 6 adult servings (varies depending on how big your apples are)

*Raisins may pose a choking hazard for kids under three.  Try boiling the raisins in pineapple juice until they plump (3-5 minutes in the microwave) to make them soft enough for a young child to chew.

**Oxalate Note: One half cup raw grated carrots has 15.3 mg. oxalate.  When the salad is divided into 6 servings, the carrots add an extra 2.7 mg. oxalate per serving, pushing this version of the salad into the medium oxalate range (5-15 mg. oxalate per 1/2 cup).  All other ingredients are low oxalate (less than 5 mg. oxalate per 1/2 cup).

Variation: Add 1-2 tablespoons of plain yogurt to make the salad creamy.  You may also try adding bits of finely chopped broccoli or cauliflower.

Get the Kids to Help:  Kids can add all of the ingredients to the bowl and mix the salad.  Letting your picky eater help may also increase the odds that she will at least try the salad.

Picky Eater Pleaser:  If your child will not usually eat “mixed foods,” try letting her sample a bite of each ingredient first.  Then let her add the ones she likes to her own bowl to “mix” or not as she pleases.  If your child is willing to eat mixed fruit salads, but you think she might balk at the carrots or zucchini, try adding a smaller amount of the vegetables the first time you make the salad.  You can gradually increase the amount each time you make the salad or as your child shows a willingness to eat it.

Menu Planner:  This is a great fall and winter salad when apples are in season and fresh produce is hard to find.  Keep things simple by pairing it with grilled or baked chicken and steamed broccoli.  I also like to serve this salad in the summer when I’m having a “summer salad meal”—a family tradition where the entire meal consists of fresh salads (most from the garden).  My boys might pick at the rest of their meal, but I know they’ll fill up if this salad is on the menu

Other Dieters: Apple Pineapple Salad may be appropriate for gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian, vegan, Paleo, GAPs, SCD and controlled carbohydrate diets.