Stuffed Bell Peppers

This night, I had every intention of making something completely different for dinner. I had a whole menu planned, but plans changed after I browsed through the grocery fliers that had come in the mail. When I saw all the beautiful produce items featured in the mailer, I decided that I would make a recipe to  use those ingredients instead. These beautiful and SUPER HEALTHY stuffed bell peppers were the result.

Recipe List (for 2 large servings):

• 1 large Red Bell Pepper (or 2 medium Bell Peppers)- Our bell peppers weren't that big, so it needed the extra half of our second medium bell pepper... Peter didn't complain :)
• 1/2 medium Yellow Onion, diced
• 1/2 lb lean Ground Turkey
• 1 clove Garlic, minced
• 2 tsp Paprika
• 1 tsp Lemon Pepper
• 1 cup Rice, precooked
• 4 tbsp (or 1/4 cup) of either tomato sauce or tomato paste
• 1 large Roma Tomato, diced

First, preheat your oven to 350 degress F. Then, saute your diced onion in extra virgin olive oil:

Then add the ground turkey, minced garlic, and seasonings:

When the turkey has browned and cooked through, add the rice and tomato sauce/paste and mix well:

Then gently mix in the diced tomato:

Now grab the bell peppers that you have cut in half and deseeded:

Stuff them with your rice mixture:

Top with some parmesan cheese:

Fill a shallow oven-safe dish or a jelly-roll pan with water until it is about 1/4 inch thick. Stand your stuffed peppers in the shallow water. 

Bake in a 350 degree F preheated oven for 25 minutes or so, until the bell pepper looks soft and sweet and the parmesan is golden on top:

 

Plate it up with a side that will compliment these tasty and nutritious stuffed peppers

 

Alterations: 

• I have seen some other versions where the bell pepper halves are blanched before they are stuffed. This will give them a little head start on the cooking process and will result in even softer and sweeter peppers. I might recommend this for those who aren't big bell pepper fans (I used to not be a bell pepper fan at all... a seemingly cardinal sin as a Nutritionist; when I was in college, all the nutrition majors would show up to class with water bottles and baggies of home-packed snacks: celery sticks, carrots, and bell pepper slices... I wanted to fit in, but I wasn't a bell pepper fan yet). 
• You can also follow this same recipe, but use it to make stuffed zucchini or stuffed tomatoes!
• You can make this healthy recipe even healthier by substituting brown rice for white rice :)