Stuffed Peppers

I've been having fun with my new camera and trying out some of my sister-in-law's tips from Our Best Bites. Sara takes absolutely stunning pictures of food.  Beautiful enough to hang on your wall.  Not kidding.  She's amazing. She's an especially amazing cook and totally my hero. So go ahead, call me a Sara-wannabe. It's the truth.

I have also been having fun with the new ceramic pans my mom gave me for my birthday.  They are awesome and have been inspiring me to cook a lot more often than I have ever felt inclined.  

I remember my mom making stuffed peppers a lot when I was little.  I didn't like them then.  I didn't like cooked vegetables at all actually.  But I love stuffed peppers now.  For years I never really used a recipe because my mom never did.  When I asked her, she gave me some vague directions like, "Oh, you just put in a little of this and some of that, and if you don't have this, you can use that.  And then just stick it in the oven."  Anyway, over the years I have perfected this recipe.  It's one of my favorites:

6 Whole Peppers

1 lb. Lean Ground Turkey

3 C Cooked Brown Rice

1/4 C Onion (minced)

1-2 Garlic Cloves (minced)

1/2 can Red Kidney Beans (drained)

1 can Stewed Tomatoes (drained and chopped)

1 can Tomato Sauce (small)

1 cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

1/4 cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese

6 Slices of Mozzarella Cheese

2 t Worcestershire Sauce

2 T Italian Seasoning

Salt and Pepper

Directions:

Cut tops off peppers and remove seeds.  Place peppers in a large pot and cover with salted water.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes.  Drain peppers and set aside.

 In a large skillet, saute the onions. Then brown the ground turkey with Italian seasoning, Worcestershire sauce, and salt and pepper to taste. Add cooked rice, kidney beans, garlic, stewed tomatoes, and tomato sauce. Turn off heat and stir in the shredded cheeses.

Spoon the stuffing into each pepper (these should be stuffed full, but somebody at my house downed a bowl-full of stuffing ahead of time) and place a slice of cheese on top.

 Bake uncovered at 350 for 1 hour or until cheese is bubbly and golden brown.

 Mmm, enjoy.  I've made this vegetarian style (back when Nate didn't eat meat) with more beans (I used black beans), rice, and cheese.  You need a lot more cheese to hold it all together but it was pretty good.