Shield Basher's Stuffed Peppers - Healthy DnD Inspired Food
A strong warrior needs strong food that fuels them for the coming raids. This protein packed recipe is light on bloat but dense on flavor and is great to boost your strength stat!
Servings 10 half-peppers
Calories 135kcal
Cost 15 gold
Equipment
- Dutch Oven
- 9"x13" baking dish
Ingredients
Italian Seasoning (feel free to use 2 tsp premade instead)
- 1 tsp basil we used fresh from our garden, but dried will do fine too, just use a bit less
- 1 tsp rosemary
- 1 tsp thyme we used fresh from our garden, but dried will do fine too, just use a bit less
The Rest
- 5 large bell peppers we prefer red, but green is an easy way to save a few gold pieces at the store
- 1 lb lean ground beef we used 93% lean, you can also use ground turkey, etc
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 tbsp garlic powder We used garlic infused oil that we had made, but garlic powder will do the trick and save calories
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper we used white pepper which is a touch sweeter, but black is great too
- 2 tsp red pepper flakes adjust to your spice preference, this amount gave a small kick
- 2 cups freshly torn spinach
- 1 15 oz can fire-roasted diced tomatoes with juices
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 cup cooked rice or grain of choice
- ¾ cup shredded skim mozzarella or cheddar cheese
- fresh basil garnish, optional
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C) and lightly coat your baking dish with nonstick spray. Slice the bell peppers in half from top to bottom. You can cut through the stem to keep it intact and help contain the stuffing later, or cut out the stem for easier eating. We cut ours out.
- Warm a Dutch Oven or deep skillet over a medium-high heat cooking fire or stove. Spray some nonstick spray in then throw in the beef and onion, breaking it up into tiny chunks, and brown for 7 minutes.
- Now toss in the Italian seasoning, cumin, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes and cook for 30 seconds.
- Put in the spinach one handful at a time and cook until it wilts down in about 2 minutes.
- Pour in the can of diced tomatoes and Worcestershire sauce and simmer for 1 minute.
- Remove the dish from heat and stir in the rice and most of the cheese. Using a big spoon, stuff the peppers with the filling and top with some sprinkling of the remaining cheese.
- Splash like 1 tbsp of water into the pan (not into the peppers) and put the pan uncovered into the oven.
- Bake the stuffed peppers for 35 minutes or until the peppers are tender. Garnish with your basil if you would like.
- Serve to hungry warriors before their next battle, they'll need the strength boost! Grant any DnD players a +2 to Athletics checks for the remainder of the session.
Notes
These stuffed peppers are a delicious and easy meal prep with a great balance of macros. At 5g fat, 9g carbs, and 13g protein per half-pepper they are well rounded and delicious. We were also astonished at how few calories it was for how filling each half-pepper is. We liked the amount of punch that the red pepper flakes gave, but what's nice about this recipe is you have a lot of control over the spice level. Feel free to sub in your hot sauce of choice too, we'd probably try sriracha next time.
This recipe is part of our new series of "Tavern food made healthy", an initiative we're taking to make fantasy foods come to life in a way that aligns with your health goals. Each recipe will take rustic foods, make some easy tweaks to improve their nutrition, and focus on flavor that any adventurer could be excited by. This recipe was done in partnership with Tank Tolman, an amazing fantasy-inspired fitness creator that we've been fans of for a long time. This recipe and many more can be found on Tank's Training app. A library of healthy recipes along with a ton of fantasy inspired workout plans like Barbarian Hammer Workouts and Ranger Bodyweight Workouts, and a welcoming community of others working on leveling up their fitness and cheering each other along, are all part of this awesome app. You can get started on the app today at https://www.gameplanapps.com/tank