I am such a fan of stuffing delicious veggies with more delicious veggies, and peppers are my favorite. It's easy, so tasty and body-friendly! Here's my basic (but awesome) stuffed pepper recipe. And like a lot of the dishes on this site, there's room for some flexibility with the ingredients. Have some leftover tomatoes? Dice and toss them in. Black olives? Yes, please. Zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, peas... you get it. Just be sure that, if you're adding to the recipe, you make allowances and subtract from the called-for ingredients so your peppers don't end up overflowing.
YIELD 4 servings
INGREDIENTS
4 medium bell peppers
1 pound ground beef
4 cups of your favorite marinara sauce
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
4 large mushrooms (2 chopped, 2 sliced)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons coconut oil (for sautéing)
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Fill a large pot (large enough to hold the peppers, nearly submerged) with water - heat to boiling
3. While you're waiting for the water, wash peppers, cut tops off and hollow out seeds and white membranes - place in boiling water for 2-3 minutes
4. In a bit of oil, sauté garlic, mushrooms, onions and celery until onions are nearly cooked and translucent
5. Next add ground beef to veggies and brown thoroughly, seasoning with salt and pepper
6. Place peppers into a large casserole dish, shaving a bit of their bottoms if they're not standing upright on their own
7. Stir a cup of marinara into beef/veggies mixture and spoon into peppers
8. Top with remaining marinara sauce and bake 15-20 minutes, or until peppers are tender
9. While they're baking sauté the sliced mushrooms in a little oil, salt and pepper and top peppers when they're done baking