Saturday, December 5, 2009

Stuffed Peppers Two Ways - Ground Turkey and Vegetarian Versions



You can use leftover cooked rice in this recipe (e.g., Chinese takeout fried rice).  Any cooked grain would work well too - such as barley, quinoa or millet.  If you have leftover filling bake it in a small oven proof bowl and use it as a mini-meatloaf for sandwiches or wraps.  I have written the recipe to be 1/2 vegetarian and 1/2 meat as lots of times we need both to satisfy a crowd.  If you're vegetarian skip the meat instructions.  If you're a carnivore you should consider vegetarianism!  At least eat less meat.  It is the fastest way to reduce our carbon foot print!

INGREDIENTS:

6 peppers in total - I used 2 red, 2 yellow and 2 green
1 jalapeno pepper
1 lb (450 g) ground turkey, chicken, beef or pork 

3 cloves of garlic
1 cup (250 ml) onion, chopped fine
1/2 cup (125 ml) ketchup or barbecue sauce

1 cup (250 ml) brown rice, raw
2 eggs

1 cup (250 ml) mushrooms, chopped fine
1 cup (250 ml) carrot, grated or chopped real fine
2 tsp (10 ml) cumin, ground
2 tsp (10 ml) basil
2 tsp (10 ml) chili powder
1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) salt (optional)
1/2 cup (125 ml) water for bottom of baking dish


Variations: grated cheese for top of peppers.  Use any type of spices or herbs you like and have on hand like Italian seasoning, dill, black pepper etc.  You can also used frozen mixed vegetables instead of the fresh mushrooms and carrots.



METHOD:

Preheat oven to 350'F (190 'C)

1.  Cook the rice in unsalted water according to package directions.
2.  Cut peppers in half vertically through the stems and discard inner seeds and membranes.  Keep the stems on as they look nice and help to hold in the filling.




3.  Mix all the ingredients except for ground chicken/turkey/beef with cooked rice.  Set half aside for the vegetarian batch.  Omit the egg if you are vegan.  They won't stick together as well without the egg but it will still work.  Add 90 ml water and 30 ml flour for some "glue" for vegan stuffed peppers if egg is omitted.




4.  Add ground chicken/turkey/beef to other half of rice and mix well.



5.  Fill half the peppers with vegetarian rice mixture and the other half with the meat and rice filling. You can mound them fairly high.  Arrange in a baking dish and add water to bottom of baking dish. Sprinkle over grated cheese of your choice (optional).  The picture below shows the vegetarian stuffed peppers.




6.  Bake for 45 minutes or until chicken is set and peppers are cooked through to an internal temperature of 175'F (77'C).  You can also cook this dish in a microwave using Medium High power.  Cover with a paper towel and microwave 10 minutes.  Check for doneness and cook more if meat is not cooked all the way through.




© Nancy Guppy, RD, MHSc
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