salty sweet seasons

I LOVE stuffed peppers. My sister introduced them to me a few years ago, and I love how quick, easy, and how minimalistic their prep time is.

I always see recipes for Mexican-style stuffed peppers, and love those because they are so delish and so easy, but I also love making them Italian-style! I know the #tiuplan just released a stuffed pepper recipe with a Mexican-y twist, but I haven’t looked at the full recipe yet, because I’m kind of a huge fan of the way I already make them haha.

For my Mexican stuffed peppers I use the following ingredients (P.S. – I’m a mom to a crazy toddler so used canned veggies to make it even easier on myself; you can use all fresh if you have more prep time available):

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. Cooked, organic, 99% lean ground turkey (you could also use ground pork, chicken, ground beef, or sausage)
• Organic, unsalted black beans – [1 can]
• Organic chopped tomatoes – [1 can]
• Organic corn kernels – [1 can]
• Sliced black olives – [1 can]
• Organic, chopped green chilies – [1 can]
• 4 organic bell peppers, sliced in half
• 1 Organic chopped onion
• 1/2-1 cup cooked quinoa
• Optional: shredded organic Mexican-style cheese sprinkled on top

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven or toaster oven to 350 degrees F & line baking sheet with foil (for easier clean up)
2. Cook ground turkey in large, non-stick flying pan until cooked all the way through
3. Add chopped onion to fully cooked turkey & cook until onions are browned
4. Drain all canned veggies
5. Cook quinoa (I use organic, frozen, steam able quinoa that’s ready in 5 minutes!)
6. Wash & slice bell peppers in half, removing all seeds and cut tops off
7. When turkey is fully cooked & onions are sautéed, add all canned ingredients & cooked quinoa in same frying pan
8. Mix all ingredients in pan together
9. Scoop out about 1/2 cup of frying pan filling mixture into each bell pepper. I usually fill mine to be kind of mound-shaped
10. Optional: sprinkle cheese on top of each pepper
11. Add each stuffed pepper to lined baking sheet & place in pre-heated oven
12. Bake for approx 30 mins.
13. Let cool, serve, and enjoy!

Now let’s head over to Italy…

I just made these last night and am drooling over getting through writing this so I can have them as leftovers for lunch…you can also make all these ingredients from scratch (i.e.: tomato sauce) & use all fresh veggies, but again, I have a 14 month old and a husband who travels for work, so do the best I can to cook & eat period!

Ingredients:

• 4 organic bell peppers, washed + sliced in half with all seeds and tops/stems removed
• 1 lb. ground turkey (you could also use ground pork, chicken, ground beef, or sausage)
• 1 can organic tomato sauce (my favorite is always garlic & herb).
• 1 organic zucchini, chopped
• 1 chopped onion or 1/2 cup frozen chopped onion
• 1 cup frozen spinach or 2 cups fresh spinach
• 3 chopped garlic cloves or 2 tsp pre-chopped garlic or garlic paste
• 1-3 shakes red pepper
• t tsp pepper
• 1/2-1 cup cooked quinoa
• 1/2 cup shredded carrots
• 1 tablespoon onion & herb salt-free Mrs. Dash seasoning
• Optional: shredded Italian four-cheese blend

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven or toaster oven to 350 degrees
2. Mom-approved step: Line baking sheet with foil for easy clean-up
3. Add ground turkey to large non-stick frying pan. Add Mrs. Dash, pepper, and garlic while still raw. Cook with seasoning until fully cooked. Add as much seasoning as you wish to taste.
4. In another frying pan, sauté onions, carrots, spinach, and zucchini. I add extra garlic and seasoning to these too! (If you don’t want to get another frying pan dirty, I suggest sautéing these in the large frying pan FIRST, then place in a bowl on the side while you cook the turkey, then add all ingredients together once turkey is fully cooked).
5. Cook quinoa (I use organic, frozen, steam able quinoa that’s ready in 5 minutes!)
6. Add veggies + quinoa to the ground turkey in the large frying pan.
7. Pour can of sauce (or less depending on how much sauce you like; you don’t want the mix runny, but you don’t want it super dry either) & mix all ingredients together
8. Scoop about 1/2 cup or more of tomato sauce + veggie + meat blend into each 1/2 sliced peppers (like serving open-faced). I like mine to make a mound on top.
9. Optional: add shredded cheese as a garnish on top
10. Bake at 350 for about 30 mins., serve, and enjoy!

If you’re part of the TIU community on Instagram & try these, make sure to take a picture and tag me at @tiu_shelley so I can see!

BON APPETITE!

OPTIONAL CROCK POT ADAPTION:

You can also make either of these babies in the crock pot! Just pre-cook the ground turkey first, mix all ingredients (except bell peppers) together. Add “stuffing” to bell peppers and place each half in the crockpot facing up. Cook on low for 4-6 hours. You just can’t fit as many this way. You could also leave peppers whole, cut off tops, and stuff your crockpot with them that way to fit more. YUM!