Stuffed Peppers

Summer's here and that means it's time for some delicious fresh summer foods. One of my all-time favorite summer dishes are stuffed peppers. It's a pretty easy recipe and freezes very well, which is great for a single person! This is a recipe that my mom made when we were growing up that I've (of course) made some modifications to. Below is the general recipe that I use, but I usually make adaptations to work with what I have on hand.
Ingredients:
5 large green peppers
1 lb ground turkey (ground beef or pork works great too, but turkey is healthier and cheaper!)

1 red onion, chopped

1 cup brown rice (or white, whatever you prefer)

10 oz. can stewed tomatoes and peppers

16 oz. can tomato sauce (any combination of tomato sauce, paste, stewed tomatoes, or tomato juice will work, as long as you achieve your desired consistency)

3/4 cup frozen corn, optional

16 oz. can black beans, optional

2 cups swiss cheese, shredded (swiss is my fav for this recipe, but I've also used cheddar & mozzarella)

1 tsp cumin, optional

2 tsp dried cilantro, optional

salt & pepper to taste

Directions

Cook rice according to package instructions. Brown ground turkey, add chopped onion.

Cut the tops of the peppers off and clean out the insides. You can stuff the entire pepper, or for a smaller serving cut the pepper in half (serving size & nutritional information based on smaller portion)

Combine turkey and onion with the cooked rice, stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce, corn, seasonings and approximately 1-1 1/2 cups cheese; reserving some cheese for the tops of the peppers.

Spoon the rice mixture into the peppers, top with the reserved cheese. Cook peppers in a covered, shallow baking dish with a small amount of water in the bottom to steam the peppers. Cook in the microwave for about 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and the peppers are tender. Or cook in the oven at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes.

10 servings