Stuffed Peppers

I don’t feel like I’ve been doing a whole lot of cooking lately. This past week has been a whirlwind…started the week recovering from vertigo and an inner ear infection, on Tuesday my daughter woke up with a fever and virus and on Thursday my son was scheduled to have his adenoids removed. Thankfully his surgery went well and he is recovering fine, but I am beat. I am physically and emotionally drained.

I did plan one good meal last week, these stuffed peppers. They are a favorite around here, and very healthy and satisfying. We usually just eat the peppers by themselves, but if you want to round out the meal serve them with a side of ziti and leftover sauce from the peppers.

Stuffed Peppers
Recipe by Aggie

1 cup uncooked brown rice
1 can chicken broth
6 medium green (or red) peppers – all around the same size so they cook evenly
1.25 (or so) lbs lean Ground Turkey, Beef, or Pork
1 lg onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 container Baby Bella mushrooms (or regular mushrooms), rough chop
2 regular cans of Diced Italian SeasonedTomatoes
1 large can of Tomato Sauce
lg pinch of dried Basil (small palmfull)
lg pinch of dried Oregano (small palmfull)
lg pinch of dried Thyme (small palmfull)
Salt and Pepper
Grated Parmesean Cheese
Shredded Mozzarella

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

1. Cook rice – bring can of chicken broth to boil, add 1 cup rice, bring back to boil then turn temp all the way down to let simmer, cover tightly with lid and leave alone for about 30 minutes. Don’t take the lid off during cook time.

2. Prepare the peppers – cut the tops of peppers off so there is a hole, remove ribs and seed on the inside, wash them.
In deep baking dish, line them up. Sprinkle salt and pepper inside peppers before filling them.

3. For filling – saute chopped onion, garlic in some olive oil in large skillet. Season w/ salt and pepper. When soft, add ground turkey. Season with salt, pepper, thyme, basil and oregano while cooking. When turkey is almost done cooking, add chopped mushrooms and cook everything through. Add 2 cans of diced tomatoes and cook through. When rice is done, add rice to skillet and mix everything together. Spoon filling into each pepper. Top with grated parmesean cheese.

4. To bake -Pour large can of tomato sauce all over peppers. Add water to leftover sauce in can (about 1/4 of the can), swirl around to get all the sauce then add to the bottom of the baking dish. Wrap tightly with foil or lid. Bake for about an hour, until peppers are soft. Take off foil, add mozzarella, bake another 20 minutes to finish off and melt cheese.