Peppers Stuffed w/ Rice, Mushrooms, & Turkey

I don’t know why, but there is something so warm and comforting about stuffed peppers. A little while back when a friend of mine lost her father, I made these stuffed peppers, hoping to comfort her as well.

The great thing about stuffed peppers is you can pretty much stuff them with anything. Pick a cooked grain, a protein, saute some onions and veggies of your choice, pop them in the pepper and bake. You can make them meat, dairy, vegan…you get the idea

This is also a great way to utilize green peppers (much cheaper than colored peppers, unless they are on sale), because their raw bitterness mellows out during the baking process.

Here I chose a base of brown rice which I paired with shallots, garlic, baby bella mushrooms, and ground turkey. Here are a couple of other great pairings I’ve used:

• Quinoa w/ sauted onions, zucchini, yellow squash, cubed seasoned tofu
• White rice w/ onions, shitake mushrooms, ground beef
• Millet w/ corn, chopped tomatoes, and cheese

Peppers Stuffed w/ Rice, Mushrooms, & Turkey

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb lean ground turkey
10 oz. baby bella mushrooms, sliced
2 cups cooked brown rice
salt & pepper to taste
6 peppers, tops cut off an innards removed

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium flame. Saute onions until soft and translucent. Add garlic and turkey and cook until browned. Add mushrooms and cook until they have released their liquid. Remove from heat and stir in rice. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Place peppers in a greased baking dish. Divide rice mixture evenly between peppers.
4. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes until peppers are soft and rice mixture is brown and crunchy.

The cost:
oil: pantry
garlic: .10
onion: .49
turkey: 3.99
mushroom: 1.99
rice: .99
peppers: 4.99

Grand total: $12.55 ($2.09/serving)