Don't Be a Stuffed Pepper!

Stuffed peppers get a bad rap. They remind me of Ralphie's little brother in 'A Christmas Story' rolling around in the snow like a turtle on its back. Poor Randy! In truth, stuffed peppers are a great lunch you can make the night before and then throw in the oven before you serve it. And even more importantly they don't have to be a heavy meal.

Most stuffed pepper recipes call for ground beef and a hunk of cheese. For summer, use the leaner ground turkey or ground chicken instead of the more fatty ground beef and limit the amount of cheese used normally in recipes to half. 

Ingredients (serves 1):

1/4 lb ground turkey

1 handful spinach

1 shallot

1/4 cup cheddar cheese

1 red bell pepper

1. Add shallots and olive oil in a pan over a medium heat and cook for 2 minutes.

2. Add ground turkey to the shallots and cook for 3 to 5 minutes until browned.

3. In a bowl, mix the spinach and cheese with the turkey and shallots until the spinach begins to wilt.

4. Drain out the remaining juices from the mixture, otherwise the pepper will have a soggy texture when cooked.

5. Cut a pepper across the top about a 1/4 inch below the stem. Clean out the seeds and hollow out the pepper, rinsing thoroughly. 

6. Add your mixture into the bottom part of the pepper and cover with the top part. Place in a small ramekin so the the pepper remains upright while cooking.

7. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes until the pepper begins to brown.

8. Remove from the oven, serve with some fresh pasta, and enjoy!