This week’s blog started with a recipe I just threw together myself. I’d seen stuffed peppers and thought they sounded good so I gave them a whirl. I figured it was pretty simple…brown up meat and sauté veggies together with whatever else you want. Fill peppers and bake until the peppers get soft:
Simple Stuffed Peppers (Lauren)
- 4 bell peppers, seed and halve stem to bottom or just cut tops off
- 1 lb ground turkey/chicken, brown and drain
- 1 cup cooked brown rice
- No-salt-added diced tomatoes, without liquid unless you want a soupier mix
- Mushrooms, onions, other veggies of choice
- 1 can diced green chilis
- 2 tsp cumin, 1 t chili powder
In a skillet, sauté veggies and tomatoes. Add and brown meat. Mix in rice. Add seasonings to taste. Scoop mixture into pepper halves. Place peppers on baking sheet (in mini-loaf pan). If you have leftover meat mix, just put it in the pan around the peppers. It can be eaten on the side, as extra, or used later to top salad or something. Bake at 350-375 for 45-60 min or until peppers are tender. This recipe makes 4 protein/carb servings each with about 4 oz meat and ¼ cup of rice so you could have two peppers on L1-3!
Get creative with your filling. Try quinoa instead of rice. Not a carb meal or on Prime? Just omit the grains; I’ve made this plenty of times with just meat and veggies as stuffing. Want it to have a cheesy flavor? Use 2-4 Tbsp of nutritional yeast flakes in the mixture and/or sprinkled on top. The green chilis and spices I used give this a Mexican flare but if you want to go Italian, use oregano, garlic, basil, etc. Anything cut up small will work in the filling too.
I did have one issue…
…but a coworker had an answer. I was finding a fair amount of liquid in the pan after cooking. She used the tip found with this recipe http://carmenskitchen.blogspot.com/2012/09/stuff-it-low-carb-cheesey-stuffed.html and simmered the peppers in boiling water for 5 min before stuffing and baking. Not only did she not have a lot of excess water in her finished dish, but this recipe only requires 12-15 min of baking because the peppers are already partially cooked. I will definitely use this trick next time!
Variation: Stuffed Zucchini Boats
Cut 2 large or 4 medium zucchini (larger ones can get bitter) lengthwise from step to tip. Scoop out the seeds and discard. Scoop away some of the zucchini flesh leaving about ¼” edge, just enough to be stable. In a large pan, similar to the stuffed pepper process, sauté your favorite veggies including the zucchini flesh, and then brown ground turkey/chicken. Stir in 1 cup or more of no-sugar-added spaghetti sauce or even just no-salt-added tomato sauce. Season to taste and add a little Parma! or nutritional yeast flakes. Fill the zucchini halves, place on a baking sheet, and bake as above until zucchini is tender. I wonder if using my coworker’s technique above would be advantageous or not. The simmering may soften the boats too much to where they won’t hold up.
Too much work with the boats? Annoyed the bell pepper tips over or is hard to eat without it caving? If you don’t care about presentation, just dice the pepper or zucchini and add it to the mixture to eat more like a casserole!
As summer approaches and we’re surrounded by goodies at the farmer’s market and even in our local grocery stores or backyard gardens, make use of these delicious vegetables in new and creative ways – more than just add-ins, they can be the bowls! Feast stuffed, feast fresh, and as always…FEAST ON!!!
~Coach Lauren
