Stuffed peppers are an easy way to use up leftovers and add in an extra vegetable. Any kind of rice dish or chili can be nice for the filling. This time I used ground turkey and snuck in even more vegetables to make this a light but filling dish. Since Halloween is nearly upon us I used orange peppers and cut them into mini jack-o’-lanterns. Some of the best tricks for making kids eat more vegetables are to hide them and make them fun or playful. My brothers are fully grown but I still need to use tricks to get vegetables on their plates and they both seemed excited about these.
Jack-O'-Lanterns
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Serves: 6
INGREDIENTS:
- 6 orange bell peppers
- 1 lb lean ground turkey
- 4 cups mushrooms, chopped finely
- 2 cups cauliflower, chopped finely
- 2 cups tomato sauce
- 1 yam, chopped finely
- 1 small yellow onion, chopped finely
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- ½ teaspoon poultry seasoning
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS:
- Preheat oven to 350°. Sautée the turkey, onion, garlic and poultry seasoning in a large wok on the stove over medium high heat until the turkey is slightly browned. Add in the mushrooms, cauliflower, yams and 1 cup of the tomato sauce and continue to sautée for another 7-10 minutes, until the vegetables are softened. Set aside to cool enough to taste then add salt and pepper as needed. Meanwhile get the peppers ready by cutting off the tops and scooping out all the seeds then cutting the faces into the sides. A very sharp paring knife works best to make precise cuts. Place the second cup of tomato sauce in the base of a casserole dish then place the pepper bottoms in the dish and scoop in the turkey mixture, pressing down to make it fill compactly. Add the lids back on and bake for 30 minutes.