It is time for me to make this commitment to cooking from whole natural foods without all the chemicals and gross stuff. What a difference it makes in the taste of the food we are eating. I, probably like many people, have this eternal excuse that I use daily. “I am so busy, I just don’t have time to cook, I need quick things to make.” I think it is time that I table that excuse and start cooking great food for my family. I love cooking but I don’t love taking the time to do it, so I tell myself that I don’t like cooking because I just don’t have the time and then when I am done eating the quick easy stuff I feel like garbage and so does my family. One of my children keeps begging me to cook good for the family. He desperately wants to be fit and healthy. So now I think it is time to get my rear in gear and start cooking.
Tonight’s recipe is Stuffed Peppers. I was inspired after eating a friends cabbage rolls yesterday and in awe of how fantastic they tasted, my friend then says that she makes stuffed peppers that way too. So today I was grabbing coffee at Giant and saw these beautiful red, yellow and orange peppers on sale and so bright and l instantly knew what I was making for dinner tonight. I then did my research on recipes and found a few that were good to start with but I like to make things my way, plus being Italian I like garlic…A LOT! So here is what I came up with.
Stuffed Peppers
6 Large Peppers (I used a mixed bag that had red, yellow and orange)
1lb Ground Turkey (you can use beef also)
1/4 to 1/3 cup Chopped Onions (I use the 1/3 as I prefer more onions)
1 1/2 cups cooked rice
1 1/2 t Coarse Kosher salt
2 Garlic Cloves – finely chopped
1 14-15oz can tomatoes
1t each – Thyme, Basil, Parsley, Oregano & Rosemary
3/4 cup Shredded Pecorino Romano (or cheese of your choice, I prefer a sharper taste)
Cut the tops off the peppers, chop and set aside. Clean out the seeds, place in deep pot and cover with water, bring pot to boil reduce heat to simmer and cook for 5 minutes.
Brown the ground turkey and set aside. In the same pan add some olive oil, chopped onion, chopped garlic and chopped tops from peppers, saute until soft and I like them to have some brown to them. While they saute take canned tomato and quickly blend in the blender and add your Thyme, Basil, Parsley, Oregano, Rosemary and 1t salt, this makes a quick tomato sauce.
Combine Ground Turkey, cooked Rice, the onion, garlic, pepper mixture, 1 cup tomato sauce, 1/2t salt and 1/2 cup cheese.
I use the Made in the USA glass Pyrex pans to do all my baking in. Use the 9 x 13 or similar and place peppers, stuff each to the top with the mixture, top with about 1 T of the leftover tomato sauce and about 1T of the Pecorino Romano Cheese.
Cook on 350 for 55 minutes.
These were wonderful. Next time I may add more Pecorino Romano to the mixture but these were moist and so tasty. So far 4 out of the 4 who have eaten like them.
Happy Cooking
Update: I am 6 for 6 and my non-pepper eaters left behind the pepper but loved the stuffing. =D
Disclosure: Please bear in mind that some of the links in this post may be affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase I will earn a commission. I will note when a post doesn’t contain any affiliate links as well. Keep in mind that I link these companies and their products because of their quality and not because of the commission I receive from your purchases. The decision is yours, and whether or not you decide to buy something is completely up to you. Note that the wineries and B & B’s don’t contain affiliate links at this time.
