Stuffed Green Bell Pepper Recipe

Stuffed Green Bell Peppers

Inspired by my favorite Mexican rice recipe, I decided it was time to stuff some bell peppers. While preparing this recipe, I realized the last time I stuffed a bell pepper was when I was a teenager. It reminded me of when I actually started to love being in the kitchen, helping my grandmother make dinner, and sometimes being in charge of making dinner for the whole family. Stuffed bell peppers was one of the dishes I made, but I’m pretty sure we used an out-of-the-box Spanish rice mix to stuff them with. It’s funny how making something as silly as stuffed bell peppers can bring back so many childhood memories.

Ingredients – Vegetarian/vegan version:  replace ground turkey with ground soy meat and chicken broth with vegetable broth.

• 5 large green bell peppers
• Multigrain Mexican rice
• 1 cup ground turkey
• 1-6 ounce can of tomato paste
• 1/2 medium white onion (about 1/2 cup), finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 medium tomato, chopped
• 1 cup of chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

Directions

Follow directions on how to make my multigrain Mexican rice. While rice is cooking, prepare the other half of the stuffing by chopping onions, one green bell pepper, tomato, and then mince garlic cloves. In a large skillet over a medium-high heat, drizzle pan with olive oil and toss in onions and garlic. Saute for about 2-3 minutes and then toss in ground turkey and cook until meat is done. Next, add chopped bell peppers, tomato, and tomato paste to cooked ground turkey and stir. Add salt and pepper, cover, and cook on low for 5 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Once rice is done, mix turkey mixture and cooked rice together in a large mixing bowl. The remaining 4 bell peppers can now be prepared for stuffing by chopping off the top of the bell pepper, then removing the stem and the seeds inside. Place bell peppers into a baking pan standing upright and begin to generously stuff bell peppers with stuffing. Once stuffed, pour 1/4 cup of chicken broth over bell pepper and place into oven and bake for 30-35 minutes.