Southwestern Stuffed Peppers

Here's a recipe for an easy weeknight dinner when you want something a little different than the usual pasta skillet meal or chicken/side dish combo. Stuffed peppers are often made with Italian flavors but I think they work really well with Mexican/southwestern flavors too.

Use a lean ground turkey or turkey breast in place of ground beef, brown instead of white rice, and 2% cheese to make this a healthier meal.

Southwestern Stuffed Peppers

1/2 pound ground turkey breast
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 cup black beans
1 cup corn
1/2 cup red onion, diced
1 can diced tomatoes with chiles (I use Ro-tel)
1/2 cup brown rice
4 bell peppers (I used green but any color will work)
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1/4 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
1 lime

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small saucepan, cook rice with water as directed on package (I used Uncle Ben's quick brown rice and it takes 1 cup water per 1/2 cup rice and cooks in about 15 minutes). Meanwhile, brown turkey in a large skillet over medium high heat, crumbling as it cooks. Add 1/2 tsp cumin, cayenne, and half of chili powder. After about 5 minutes, add diced tomatoes and reduce heat to medium low. Add onions, black beans and corn and simmer until rice is cooked.

Meanwhile, prepare peppers by cutting in half through the top, remove stem, seeds and ribs. Rinse and set in a large baking dish. When liquid has cooked off rice, add remaining spices and fluff with a fork. Stir into turkey mixture. Squeeze juice of half of lime over the mixture and add half the cilantro. Spoon filling into pepper halves. Add a couple tablespoons of water to pan, cover the pan with foil and bake for about 20-25 minutes. Uncover, peppers should be softened. Sprinkle on cheese and return to oven for about another 5 minutes until cheese is melted. Top with remaining cilantro and sour cream, if desired.