Stuffed Bell Peppers

This was a recipe I made last week and never got around to posting, probably because it just turned out okay. It was a little bit tricky. Next time I make it, I'm definitely going to make some edits, the first of which will be to pre-cook the rice. Mine turned out a little too al dente (can you use that for rice?) and if it was all the way cooked I think it would've tasted much better. Other nitpicks I had include cutting the peppers the wrong way (whoops) and not having any foil to cover them when they went in the oven. That said, this recipe is really low calorie, pretty low carb, and filling!

Yield: 3 servings with leftover filling (I split the "filling" in half and froze it so I only used 3 peppers for this one, so if you don't want to do that, use 6 peppers, and it will make 6 servings. A little confusing.)

Ingredients: 
3 green bell peppers (or 6 if you want to use all the filling)

1 pound ground turkey

1/3 cup chopped onion

salt and pepper to taste

1 can whole peeled tomatoes, 14.5 oz, chopped

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup uncooked brown rice

1/2 cup water

1 cup shredded 2% Cheddar cheese (or you can use Mexican blend)

2 cans condensed tomato soup, 10.75 oz

water as needed

Preparation:

1. Cook rice according to instructions on package (I didn't do this step, but I would use my rice cooker. Remember, brown rice takes MUCH longer to cook than white rice, so factor that into your prep time).

2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cut the tops off the peppers, and remove the seeds. Cook peppers in boiling water for 5 minutes; drain. Sprinkle salt inside each pepper, and set aside.

3. Saute turkey and onions in a skillet until turkey is browned, about 5 minutes. Drain off excess fat, and season with salt and pepper. 

4. Stir in the tomatoes, rice, 1/2 cup water and Worcestershire sauce. Cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. 

5. Remove from heat, and stir in the cheese.

6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a baking dish with cooking spray (pick your dish carefully; you don't want the peppers to fall over, so the dish should be just big enough to fit all the peppers side by side). Stuff each pepper with the turkey and rice mixture and place peppers open side up in the baking dish. 

7. Combine tomato soup with just enough water to make the soup a gravy consistency (if you're only making half the recipe, only use one can of soup). Pour over the peppers.

8. Bake covered (I didn't cover them...next time I would use foil) for 30 minutes.

These made great leftovers and work lunches. As I said above, pack up half of this yummy filling and put it in the freezer. Next time you want this meal, it's as easy as prepping the peppers and popping them in the oven!