Garden Dill-icious Chickpea Crunch Stuffed Bell Pepper

Recipe By: Ruthie Sater
Featured on Tuesdays With Thomas 3/2/21

Ingredients:

• Two Red Bell Peppers
• 1 cup finely chopped celery
• 1/4 cup Finely chopped red onion (optional: add more to taste)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped green onion, just the green parts (optional: add more to taste)
• 1 cup chopped red apple (about 1 large one), soaked in a squeeze of lemon juice.
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 15 oz cans of unsalted chickpeas, drained then rinsed and patted dry with paper towel
• 4  cups of cauliflower florets, steamed. (optional: Can also use one thawed 18 oz bag of frozen cauliflower)
• 1/4 cup raw cashews or raw sunflower seeds
• 2 tbsp. mustard (I used the Trader Joes dijon)
• 2 tbsp of Coconut Aminos or Tamari (if using Tamari start with 1 Tablespoon and taste as this tastes saltier then the coconut aminos)
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. onion powder
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric
• 2 pinches of black pepper (this will activate the turmeric)
• 4 tbsp. of the Garden Dill Mustard Seed Balsamic
• 1 tbsp. dill, dried
• 5 tbsp. of capers (optional: You can add a bit of their juice to taste or omit, but I added about a tablespoon of their juice)

Directions:

1. Cut one of the peppers in half vertically, remove seeds and the white part inside.  Chop the other bell pepper finely, and set aside to use later in the recipe for the Chickpea Crunch.
2. Place the steamed cauliflower in the blender with 2 to 3 tbsp. of water and blend. May need to add a an extra Tablespoon or two of water so that it blends. Once blended add in the 1 tbsp. of lemon juice, cashews, mustard, turmeric, pepper, garlic, onion powder, and coconut aminos. Now your dressing is ready. Set aside
3. In a large bowl mash about 3/4 of  the chickpeas, leaving some whole. Then add the chopped apples, red onion, green onion, celery, chopped red bell pepper you had set aside, and capers. Stir in the dried dill.
4. Pour in 1/2 cup of the dressing (start with 1/4 cup and pour on as much dressing as you would like from the blender. Reserve the rest of the dressing to use for dipping fresh cut cucumbers or bell peppers, or pour over steamed veggies and baked potatoes.
5. Mix everything together and then stuff the Chickpea Crunch into the prepared halved bell peppers.  Drizzle a bit more of the Garden Dill Mustard Seed Balsamic on top.  Enjoy!

Notes:

 You can also buy small bell peppers (as shown above in photo) and stuff those as appetizers.