I had two bell peppers -- one yellow, one red -- and they were starting to look a little... shriveled. I had good intentions when I bought them (as I always do when I go grocery shopping), thinking I'd make a nice pasta or something over the weekend. Obviously, I didn't, because on Monday night they were still there. It was going to be stuffed pepper* night.
*Personally, I don't like stuffed green peppers. I would suggest red or yellow. I find that green peppers are better suited to grilling.
I started a pot of black lentils (about 1/2 cup) in vegetable broth (1:2, like rice). I covered the pot, brought them to a boil, reduced to a simmer, and let them go until they had absorbed the liquid and continued to cook them on low until almost burned (I wanted some to be a bit crunchy -- but that decision, ultimately a matter of taste, is up to you).
While the lentils were cooking, I chopped two cloves of garlic and a medium white onion. I decided to work with seitan -- about 50 grams -- cut into small cubes. (Remember that everything -- lentils, onion/garlic, seitan -- will end up inside of a pepper. You will want to keep everything smaller than bite sized.) I put it all in a nonstick skillet and started it on low, with some freshly ground black pepper. I also added capers -- tin & I love them, some people don't -- but ultimately, the capers replaced a pinch of salt that, should you choose not to use capers, should be added.
To keep everything from drying out -- or worse yet, burning -- inside the pepper, I needed to create some kind of liquid-y counterpart. I had three Roma tomatoes that were also starting to look a little overripe -- I gave them a rough chop (this time, size isn't your primary concern -- they'll cook down. About bite-sized/a little bigger will do just fine). Once the onions are starting to look shimmery, you can add the tomatoes. I then added the zest of one lemon, about a teaspoon of raw sugar* and covered the skillet.
*When cooking with tomatoes and other acidic ingredients, adding sugar helps to take away the sour/bitter edge that they take on when cooked.
At this point, you should turn your back to the stove to give everything time to jazz & mingle together -- again, resist the urge to keep stirring and poking around. To occupy myself and take my mind off of what may or may not have been going on under the lid, I figured it was a good time to get the peppers ready. It may not look like much, but for most people, one pepper will be enough. Simply cut around the tops (keeping fairly close to the stems, cut a ring about the size of a half dollar) -- when you remove the top, most of the seeds should be attached/come out with it. Now, carefully get your hands in there and rip out the white membranes (you don't want to get too aggressive, now -- you'd rather leave a little bit behind than punch through the pepper). There will be some seeds floating around in there -- it's okay.
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
I then returned to the stove and took the lid off of the onions/garlic/capers/seitan/tomatoes. To the skillet, I added a splash of quality balsamic vinegar, gave it a good stir, and covered it for another minute. I then emptied the pot of lentils* into the skillet, mixed it all together, and turned off the heat.
*It should now be clear to you why I burned my lentils a bit, because you'll notice that the mixture in the skillet it rather soft. The lentils and seitan will, on the whole, bring a "chewy" element to the table, but letting a few lentils get overdone will add a satisfying "crunch" to party with the pepper which, when cooked, will be a little bit crunchy, a little bit soft.
Stuffing the peppers is pretty self-explanatory: with a small spoon, pack the mixture into each pepper (really stuff it in there, pushing it down with the back of the spoon -- you don't want for it to dry out, nor do you want for anybody to go hungry). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the peppers on it, upright. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until peppers are starting to turn brown.
I served my peppers with an extra scoop of the filling that didn't fit inside, and a drizzle of olive oil (a DRIZZLE, don't drown them). And of course, a nice glass of wine.
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