Pepper Stuffed Peppers

I'm always looking for ways to make traditional recipes my own. I do this by adding or subtracting or manipulating the ingredients to make them healthier and/or tastier. Stuffed Peppers have been a favorite of mine since I learned how to make them in high school. Traditional stuffed pepper recipes call for butter or oil, added salt, white rice, tomato sauce, and ground beef.

For this recipe, I omitted butter/oil and salt. I used diced tomatoes with green chilies instead of plain old tomato sauce then replaced the ground beef with my meat mixture and the white rice with brown. I also added two other types of peppers to my mixture to give the stuffing a flavor boost.

Peppers are a great source of nutrients - including C, A, and B-complex vitamins.

*Tip:  I am not a fan of any kind of ground meat due to fat content and texture, but Jess enjoys ground beef. Diabetics and those with metabolic disorders are supposed to limit their red meat consumption to a couple of servings a week, so I started browning 93/7 ground beef with ground white turkey in equal proportions and season with Slap Ya' Momma. I use this meat mixture in chili, soup, tacos, etc...without any complaint from Jess (so far).

Recipe

• 4 Stuffable Green Peppers
• 1 Banana Pepper
• 3 Sweet Mini Yellow, Red, or Orange Peppers
• 1 14oz Can Diced Tomatoes w/ Green Chilies
• 1 1/2 -2 Cups Cooked Brown Rice
• 3-4 oz. Browned Meat (see above)
• 1 Cup Shredded Cheese (any kind)
• salt to taste (I use none)

Directions:

1. Preheat Oven to 375*.
2. Cut tops off of green peppers and remove middles - do not break peppers open. Add peppers to a pot of boiling water. Reduce heat and simmer, cooking 5 minutes. Remove peppers, placing them top-down on a paper towel to drain water out.  *Overcooking the green peppers makes them soft and reduces nutrient content.
3. While green peppers are cooking, dice banana & mini peppers. Mix together cooked rice, diced tomatoes/chilies, browned meat, and diced peppers.
4. Spray a baking dish with non-stick spray. Place green peppers in baking dish and fill with stuffing mixture to the point of "over-stuffing" them. Place remaining stuffing mix around base of peppers.
5. Bake for 8 minutes then remove from oven. Sprinkle with shredded cheese and return to oven. Bake a few more minutes - until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Serve warm! These stuffed peppers have 34-38 carbs per pepper.

Vegetarian Alternative - since I don't eat ground meat, I wait to add the browned meat to my stuffing mix until after I've filled one or two of the peppers with the rice mixture. I use a little cheese in the middle when I make the "vegetarian" version.

*Tip: Anytime I get peppers from my grandparents' garden or the store in bulk, I will freeze the ones I don't use  - WHOLE. This preserves the flavor and makes them easier to work with later.