Healthy Recipe: Schnitzel Stuffed Peppers
Last week I posted a photo of what I was buying at the grocery store on my personal Facebook page. I got a lot of fun comments and it sparked a good discussion about the expense of healthy food.
The ground lamb (lower left corner) is what really caught everyone's attention!
But what people were most interested in was the ground lamb that was on the checkout belt. Several friends and even an acquaintance at the gym asked what I planned to do with it.
Cook it and eat it, of course!
I’ll be honest: lamb is not something that I buy often. It’s extremely fatty and can sometimes have a “game-y” taste. I actually like that game-y flavor but my family does not, so I don’t buy it often.
But as it so happened I had plans to try a new recipe that called for a fattier type of ground meat. The original recipe called for ground pork, but I’m a stickler for sourcing meats from grass-fed and humanely raised animals so I went with the 100% grass-fed ground lamb because I knew it would contain the fat content necessary for the recipe. It's also nearly impossible to find humanely raised pastured pork products at a normal grocery store.
The recipe that follows is what I made with the ground lamb...and it turned out great! I adapted the recipe from one I found in Paleo Magazine and made changes to suit our needs, and also to use ingredients I had on hand. For example, the original recipe does not call for stuffing the meat into bell peppers, but I had some leftover from the garden that needed to be used. I didn’t have enough pork rinds to make the topping so I ended up mixing in some almond flour to add bulk. My parsley plant is dying (no surprise there), so I needed to supplement dried parsley with the fresh. Lastly, the original “Paleo” version of the recipe calls for mashed cauliflower. Despite trying many different versions of mashed cauliflower (to replace mashed potatoes), my husband is not a fan. Mashed potatoes are his favorite food and sometimes there’s just no substitute for the real thing. So I made him a small batch of real mashed potatoes (I'm such a nice wife...sometimes) and Alea and I ate the peppers with a side of leafy greens and oven roasted veggies.
Only 30 minutes until I can dig in!
Schnitzel Stuffed Peppers
- 1 lb. ground lamb
- 1 tsp sea salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 T lemon juice
- 2 T fresh parsley
- 2 T dried parsley
- 1 egg
- 2 T almond flour
- Pork rinds, crushed
- 4 bell peppers, cut in half lengthwise
- Lemon wedges and extra fresh parsley for garnish (optional)
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Prepare the peppers by cutting them in half lengthwise and removing the seeds.
- Prepare the topping by crushing the pork rinds and mixing in the almond flour. I used a small food processor for this.
- In a large bowl, use your hands to mix the ground lamb, salt, pepper, lemon juice, parsley, and egg. Mix until well combined.
- Fill the pepper halves with the ground meat mixture and set them in a 10 ½ inch (or larger) cast iron skillet. You can also use a glass baking dish or any oven-safe skillet.
- Sprinkle the pork rind topping over the meat-stuffed peppers until each one is generously covered.
- Carefully slide the skillet into the preheated oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Bake times may vary depending on the size of your peppers. Very large peppers that hold more ground meat may take a bit longer.
- The topping should brown and crisp up nicely. If the meat seems to be cooked but the topping isn’t crisp, use your broiler on the high setting for a minute or two to finish it off.
- Serve with a side of lemon wedges and extra fresh parsley, if desired. Enjoy!
Schnitzel Stuffed Peppers with Oven Roasted Veggies