Stuffed Turkey Peppers Recipe

I made the Stuffed Turkey Peppers from the recipe on page 76 of the July/August 2009 issue of Clean Eating magazine last night. They were easy to put together, and very, very good. I will make these again for sure. Even though this recipe involved using the oven, which I try to avoid in the heat of summer, it was worth getting all hot and bothered, lol.

As usual, I tweaked the recipe to my own liking. It's a habit of mine to put my own twist on things, but who cares? As long as it tastes great, right? So here's the recipe and a couple of pictures to stir up your taste buds. Really, you should try this one!

Stuffed Turkey Peppers

Serves 4. Prep time: 30 min. Cook time: 15 min. Total time: 45 min.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup wild rice (I used one cup of Kashi 7 grain pilaf)

1 tbsp evoo (as R. Ray says)

2 cups onions, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 lb 99% lean ground turkey

2/3 cup low-sodium natural tomato juice (I used low-sod V8)

1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

10 grape tomatoes, halved

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

4 assorted medium sweet bell peppers (red, orange, and yellow)

2 oz part skim mozzarella

Instructions:

ONE: Bring rice and 2 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium, cover and continue to boil for 25 minutes. (I could skip this step since I used the pre-cooked Kashi grains :p)

TWO: Meanwhile, add oil and onions to a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Saute onions for 2 minutes, then add garlic and saute for 1 minute. Add turkey, juice and seasoning. Cook until turkey is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Add tomatoes and black pepper, cooking, covered, for 5 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 F.

THREE: Fill a large pot half-full with water and bring to a boil. Cut tops from bell peppers and remove all seeds. Add bell peppers and tops to water and return to a boil. Cook, covered, for 4 to 5 minutes or until tender. Remove bell peppers and dry on paper towel.

FOUR: Drain rice and add to turkey mixture (with Kashi no need to drain the grains). In a glass dish, stand bell peppers and fill with turkey-rice mixture. Sprinkle with mozzarella and add bell pepper top. Bake for 15 minutes.

Nutrients per stuffed pepper: Calories: 350, Total fat: 7g, Sat.Fat: 1.5g, Carbs: 35g, Fiber: 7g, Sugars: 14g, Protein: 36g, Sodium: 210mg, Cholesterol: 60mg

(keep in mind with changing a few ingredients, these numbers may have changed some, but still in a healthy range)

I see many possible ways to mix up this recipe. You could use the veggie crumbles instead of turkey for a lower cholesterol count. Or add jalepeno peppers or salsa in place of the tomato juice for a nice bit of heat. I served mine with a side of Edamame, tasted great together.

Have a super Thursday and don't forget to drink your water.