Skinny Stuffed Peppers

Tonight I made some healthy Turkey Stuffed Peppers for dinner and enjoyed mine over a salad of romaine, chopped tomatoes, fire roasted corn, black beans, and guacamole.  It was a light, flavorful, and filling meal.

I slightly tweaked a recipe I have had bookmarked from Gina's Skinny Taste for ages.  I added a little fire roasted corn to my filling and some additional seasoning.  I'll definitely make these again in the future, but I think next time I'll add some hot sauce for even more flavor.  You can certainly tweak these to suit your preferences, adding in other vegetables and seasonings to the filling.  Using extra lean ground turkey and just a sprinkle of cheese makes these stuffed peppers guilt free.

Turkey Stuffed Peppers
adapted slightly from Gina's Skinny Taste

1 lb. extra lean ground turkey
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 onion, minced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro or parsley
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon cumin
salt to taste (I used 1/4 teaspoon)
1/2 teaspoon Tex-Mex Chipotle Seasoning
1/3 cup fire roasted corn
3-4 large bell peppers, washed*
1 cup fat free chicken broth
1/4 cup tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups cooked rice
olive oil spray
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400°.  Spray a little olive oil spray in a medium size saute pan and heat on a medium flame.  Add onion, garlic and cilantro (or parsley) to the pan, and saute about 2 minutes.  Add the ground turkey to the pan and season with salt, garlic powder, cumin, and chipotle seasoning.  Brown the meat for several minutes until it is completely cooked through.  Add 1/4 cup of tomato sauce, 1/2 cup of chicken broth, and fire roasted corn, mix well and simmer on low for about 5 minutes.  Combine the cooked rice and meat together.

Cut the bell peppers in half lengthwise and remove all seeds.  Place in a baking dish.  Spoon the meat mixture into each pepper half and fill it with as much as you can.  Place all stuffed pepper halves in the baking dish and pour the remainder of the chicken broth on the bottom of the pan.  Cover tight with aluminum foil and bake for about 35 minutes.  Top with shredded cheddar cheese and enjoy.

*Gina's recipe calls for three bell peppers, but I had quite a bit of filling left over (enough for four peppers).