Stuffed (with veggies) Bell Peppers

This is one of our favorite quick and easy meals, and I've changed it up so much over time that it's almost not recognizable as the original recipe. This is a great way to get lots of veggies into your family without them knowing.

Ingredients:

• 6 bell peppers, any color
• 1/4 onion, diced
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 1 lb. ground turkey
• 1/2 C. (or more) finely shredded carrot, zucchini, or any other veggies on hand
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 tsp. (ish) Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp. salt
• Ground black pepper to taste
• 1 C. cooked rice
• 1 C. shredded cheddar cheese (or use some American slices if that's what you have)
• 1 can tomato soup

So, to start.  I wash the peppers and cut off the bare minimum of top.  The filling will do 6, but we use 4 because the kids just like the filling anyway.  Chop up that top part, why waste it?  I love the 4 packs of peppers that are multi-colored.  Once I chop the tops up, I chop up about 1/4 of a large yellow onion and mix it all up.  I freeze this and use it to mix into different things later.

Saute about 1/3 c. of this onion/pepper mixture in some olive oil.  Add the ground turkey, salt and pepper, and whatever other shredded veggies you're using, and brown the meat. 

Once the meat is browned, add the tomatoes and worcestershire sauce and simmer till liquid is reduced.

While I am doing all of this, I start cooking the rice.  A lot of recipes have you cook the rice in the meat mixture, but it speeds up the process this way.  In this picture, you'll notice I am using a cheater "boil in the bag" rice that I found on clearance.  I also blanch the peppers in the last five minutes the water is boiling, again, speeding up the final cooking process.

Once they are done, add the rice to the meat mixture, drain the peppers, and sprinkle some salt in them.

Once the rice is mixed in, add the shredded cheese.  If you're planning to use slices, you can put them on top before the sauce.  I've done it both ways, and people in my family prefer American.  When the cheese is melted, start filling the peppers with the mixture.  Again, the kids don't like the pepper part, so I put the extra around the base of the peppers.  It keeps them from falling over.

Then pour some tomato soup over the top.  If you're using slices, toss them on top, too.  I mix just a bit of water with the soup (like a tablespoon or two) just to make it a little easier to pour, and I also put just a sprinkle of cinnamon in there.

Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.  Enjoy!