Taco Filled Peppers

         0 points

1.5 Pounds of Ground Turkey Breast
2.5 Teaspoons of  Old El Paso Taco Seasoning
1 cup of Canned Kidney Beans, rinsed and drained well
1 cup of 0 Point Salsa (I use Ortega Thick & Chunky)
4 Large Green Peppers
1 Large Tomato, chopped
1 Onion, diced small
Vegetable Cooking Spray

Directions:
1. Spray a large frying pan with vegetable cooking spray. Turn on heat to medium high. When hot, brown turkey breast until cooked. Add taco seasoning, beans, diced onion and salsa. Simmer for about 5 minutes so flavor blends. You can add additional seasoning in that you like as well.
2. Cut green peppers in half lengthwise, remove stems and seeds. In a large stockpot, cook peppers in boiling water for about 4 minutes. Drain and rinse them in a colander and run cold water over them.
3. Spoon meat and bean mixture into each pepper half evenly.1. Place in a 13 x 9 baking dish that has been sprayed with vegetable cooking spray. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until peppers appear to be crispy and tender.
2. Add some of the chopped tomato to top of each pepper half.
3. To keep at 0 Points, you can add up to 1/4 cup of Kraft Fat Free Cheddar Cheese (per pepper), up to 1 1/2 tablespoons of fat free sour cream (per pepper) and all the 0 Point Salsa you would like.
   STOVE & OVEN

Stuffed Peppers with Shredded Chicken Breast

    4 serv   4 points        
                                                     
2 med uncooked bell peppers, cut in half
¼ c shredded Monterrey Jack
4 slices (deli style) Provolone
½ c fresh mushrooms, chopped
½ c cooked, chopped onions
12 oz uncooked boneless, skinless, chk breasts, sliced thin
¼ c chicken broth
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp paprika
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Cut chicken into thin, shredded style pieces
Chop onions and mushrooms
Saute’ chicken on stove over medium heat with chicken broth until cooked through with salt and pepper
Add chopped mushrooms and onions and paprika
Add Monterey jack cheese, saute and stir until melted and veggies are soft
Meanwhile, cut peppers in half and clean out seeds
Place on baking sheet with parchment paper
Lay one piece of provolone in the bottom of the pepper
Scoop chicken mixture into each half of the bell pepper
Place piece of provolone cheese on top of each pepper half
Bake in oven until cheese is brown and bubbly

Stuffed Bell Peppers

                                                                                                                                                             
1 C long-grain brown rice (I used Uncle Ben's Brown Rice, but any long-grain rice will work.)
 4 large green bell peppers, bottom trimmed, cap end cut off and diced, and seeds removed
 1 large onion, diced
 2 tsp. + 1 tsp. olive oil
 2 links (about 8 oz.) turkey Sweet Italian Sausage (or other sausage of your choice. Use diced mushrooms instead of sausage for vegetarian version.)
 1/2 tsp. ground fennel
 1/2 tsp. dried Greek or Turkish oregano
 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
 salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
 1/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese

 Cook rice according to package directions, or using a rice cooker. (Rice can be cooked ahead and used in this recipe later.)
 Preheat oven to 375F/190C. Trim bottom of bell peppers so they have a flat surface to stand on. Cut off a fairly generous amount of the stem end of peppers, then remove seeds. Place hollowed-out peppers in a baking dish that you've sprayed with non-stick spray or olive oil. (A dish that's close in size to the peppers will work best.)

Remove stem part from the pepper caps and trim off any white membrane, then dice pepper caps and the onion into fairly small dice. Heat 2 tsp. olive oil in a large skillet, then saute diced pepper and onion for 3-4 minutes, until they are starting to soften but aren't browned. Remove pepper-onion mixture to a bowl, add 1 tsp. more olive oil, then squeeze sausage out of the casing and cook until it's lightly browned, breaking apart with the back of the turner.

 Put the onion-pepper mixture back into the pan with the sausage, add the dried spices, and saute 2-3 minutes to blend the flavors. Then add cooked rice and Parmesan cheese, season the mixture with salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste, and cook just long enough to warm, about 1-2 minutes.

 Stuff the filling mixture into the hollowed-out peppers, using a spoon to press the mixture down so it's tightly packed into the pepper shell. (A few years ago I stopped pre-cooking the peppers before stuffing, and now I prefer peppers that are stuffed raw.) If you have any extra filling, you can put it in a small ramekin and bake along with the peppers. Bake peppers for 30 minutes, then remove from oven and put a generous pinch of grated mozzarella on top of each pepper. Put peppers back into the oven and bake about 10-15 minutes more, until cheese is melted and lightly browned. Serve hot.

 You can freeze leftover peppers for a month or two, although the frozen peppers will be a little softer in texture (but still very tasty.) I cut them in half top-to-bottom before freezing and freeze two halves in a small baking dish with a snap-on lid.