Stuffed Bell Peppers

 Here's what's delicious (if you ask me).. stuffed peppers!

 Want to know what's even better? Stuffed peppers that are semi-healthy for you. AND something really great about stuffed peppers is, you can't really do it wrong- anything you like can go in them, add cheese and bake that sucker. Seriously- it's awesome! (Or in the summer, grill them..so yummy!)

To make ones just like I did, you need this:

4 green bell peppers (or red or yellow if you like it sweeter)
extra Virgin olive oil
ground turkey (because it's healthier than ground beef)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can crushed tomatoes
instant brown rice (or white)
shredded colby jack cheese
cayenne pepper (optional)
salt/pepper

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Start by lining a baking pan with foil. Place each bell pepper on it's side, and cut the top off. Use a knife (carefully!) to clean out the pepper. They should look like this.

In a large skillet, heat a small amount (maybe a tablespoon) of olive oil on medium temperature. Add ground turkey and cook, stirring and turning occasionally (similar to browning hamburger, except turkey turns white). Add onion and cook for an additional minute or two-- super precise, I know. Add UNdrained can of tomatoes and bring to a boil.

Add instant rice and stir. Reduce heat and allow to simmer until rice is tender, stirring occasionally. Add salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper if desired. While this is cooking, you can line the bottom of your peppers with shredded cheese. When it's ready, add a layer of the turkey/tomato/rice mixture. Then a layer of cheese, then the rice mixture, and so on until you've filled the pepper. Finish with cheese loaded onto the top (because you can never have too much cheese!)

Bake on 350 degrees for 7-10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the pepper appears to be softening justttt slightly. Turn your broiler on high and cook until the cheese on top is browning (5 minutes or less, keep an eye on it). As I've warned you before, using the broiler is tricky- DON'T BURN THEM! :)

YUMMY! Now imagine on the grill-- grill marks, smoked charcoal flavor, yeah baby!

Note: I really like my pepper to still be crunchy.. but if you don't, you can always start baking it while you're prepping the inside, and then put it back in the oven to finish it off. Like I was saying before, you really can't mess this up!