Stuffed Peppers

It's been a long time since I've posted a new recipe...a really long time. I've been re-cooking many of the favorites I've already shared (we are serious creatures of habit), but honestly we've also been eating out a lot too. Blame it on a day job with some long hours - and you'd think I'd be taking advantage of having a hot meal ready for me at the end of the day, but instead I just can't even get myself to menu plan and grocery shop on a regular basis.

But...I was inspired by my friend Kim who recently cooked stuffed peppers and they sounded so yummy! This is a variation of her recipe - and this would normally go against my I-shouldn't-have-to-precook-to-cook-in-the-crockpot, but it really instead was a desire to avoid turning on my oven...in Houston...where it's sweltering hot...and my A/C already runs round the clock. And I have to say, I am learning to appreciate my crockpot on a whole new level when it allows me to "bake" without turning on the oven. 

So here's the recipe...

1 lb lean ground turkey (or whatever ground meat you prefer) 
1/2 large sweet Texas onion (or whatever onion you have), finely chopped
1 large tomato, diced
8oz tomato sauce
Couple tbsp of seasoning for the turkey (I use an All Season blend that combines multiple spices
3/4 Cup uncooked rice (I used medium grain white rice - but you could use whatever you like)
6 Peppers (green, red, orange, yellow - mix it up!)

Directions:

1) Saute the onions (I used a small amount of olive oil) until translucent - about 2 minutes. I also add a little bit of salt anytime I'm sauteing onions...I think it's cuts the "onion-y" taste a little bit.

 

2) Add the ground turkey and spices and cook until the turkey is done. 

3) I threw this in a large mixing bowl to have room to work.
4) Add the diced tomato, tomato sauce (with 1/3 can water to get all the sauce out), and rice - stir well.
5) Cut the tops off the peppers (but keep them) and clean them out. (The pictures show only 4 peppers but I had enough filling for 2 more - so this actually makes 6!)

6) Stuff the filling into the peppers and place in the crock pot - I used my 6 Qt pot. (Note, if any of the peppers are touching the edges, you'll get some slight "charring" so if that is an issue for you, be sure to use a large enough crock pot so nothing touches the sides.)

7) Put the pepper tops back on top. (I really think this helped to keep the moisture locked in.)

8) Add about 1/3 cup of water to the crock pot, cover and cook for 2.5 hours on high.

Voila!

These were moist, delicious and very healthy! I'm not a huge fan of peppers (I love stuffed peppers, but mostly the stuffing part) - but the peppers ended up very mild in flavor and I even ate half my pepper! The hubby agrees that this goes into the rotation and we'll definitely eat this again. And we have leftovers for lunch tomorrow which is a double bonus!