Turkey Veggie Stuffed Bell Peppers & Homemade Tomato Sauce

These stuffed peppers came out SO good, and they are SUPER DUPER filling, yet there is no rice.  The trick here is to know your herbs and your favored seasonings, and use them, generously.  At a mere 350 calories for a whole pepper (that is, 2 halves over stuffed to the brim) plus whatever calories are in your sauce (mine was roughly 50 additional calories) you have a very reasonable dinner, that is super high in nutrients, low in fat, and 0 starchy carbs.  Win-win!

Turkey Veggie Stuffed Bell Peppers 

1/2 pound ground turkey
1 pound button mushroom
1 medium zuchini
1/4 head cauliflower florets (about 1 cup), lightly steamed and cooled
1 medium red onion
3 garlic cloves
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
2-4 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1.5 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder (omit chili if you don't want some kick)
1 tsp chili flakes
1.5 tsp thyme
1 tsp majoram
Parmigiano-Reggiano (optional)



preheat oven to 350

Spray a large skillet with cooking spray; sautee the turkey over medium heat. Add 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp thyme,and freshly ground pepper.  Taste!  You want the turkey to be well seasoned.  Set aside when done.

Run the mushroom, zucchini, onion, cauliflower, and garlic through your food processor with the "grate" attachment.  You can also hand grate everything if you are a glutton for punishment.  Spray a large skillet with cooking spray; add all your veggies and the remainder of the seasonings.  Stir well to incorporate, pat down the mixture to evenly coat the bottom of your skillet and let sit over medium-low heat for a good 5 minutes.  When the bottom starts to slightly brown, stir/flip the veggies, pat down, and let brown again.  Continue in this way until veggies have released their juices and juices have mostly evaporated.  Taste for seasoning and adjust as necessary.

Add the turkey to the veggies and toss.  Taste one more time.  Your stuffing is ready!

Halve the peppers the long way and de-seed. In the bottom of a baking dish or casserole, add tomato sauce (store bought or make your own which is way yummier and better for you and doesn't take too much effort I promise! See below) to cover the bottom, reserving enough to cover the peppers.  Lay your peppers in, cut side up.  Stuff with the filling, pressing and compacting as you go.  Use all the stuffing up! It will mound up. Add more sauce to the top of each stuffed pepper.  Cover with foil and bake 45 minutes.  Optionally, remove foil, and allow to bake an additional 15 minutes so you get the delicious crusty brown bits.

Add some shaved or grated Parmigiano-Reggiano over the top for that final touch. 

Of course, you can always add or subtract whatever veggies are in season or that you feel like having to the stuffing mix.  Try eggplant, yellow squash, carrots, fresh peas, spinach, chopped kale, or parsnips for example.  Play with the seasonings too!



Homemade Tomato Sauce
I always make my tomato sauce from scratch.  It is ridiculously easy, WAY tastier, and you know exactly what is going in it.  With a little variation in seasonings, the basic recipe can be used to make pasta sauce, pizza sauce, or the sauce used above.

 4 cups of tomato puree.  You can achieve this in several ways:

• 1 14oz can tomato sauce (check ingredients and make sure there is only 1 ingredient)
• 1 14 oz can pureed tomatoes
• -or-
• 8-10 roma or vine, or heirloom tomatoes.  Blanched, peeled, and pureed -OR- oven roasted and peeled (my preference). Make sure you save all the juices!

4 cloves garlic, minced
1 TBS salt
1 tsp each: oregano, basil (dried), thyme, marjoram
1 packet sweetener or 2 tsp sugar

Add everything to a saucepan and allow to simmer, uncovered for 20-30 minutes until sauce reduces and thickens.  The end.

For Pizza Sauce: add 1 tsp each of chili powder and chili flakes
For Pasta Sauce: slightly increase salt and sweetener
For Stuffed Bell Peppers: add 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp chili powder, 1 tsp chili flakes



Erics dinner: I made him Chili Con Carne with BACON the first night (see, I am not entirely heartless);  peanut butter sandwich on the second night