Southwestern Roasted Stuffed Peppers

Which is your favorite?  Red, green, orange or yellow bell peppers?  I prefer red.  But you can use any color you like in this recipe.  I don’t make these often but whenever I see red or yellow peppers on sale, I  go for it.  If you have rice mixture left over after you fill your peppers, it makes for good eating by itself or even better inside a flour tortilla.

Feel free to leave out ingredients you don’t have or don’t like and add things you do.  I vary the meat and vegetables according to what is in my refrigerator.  Usually add mushrooms at no extra calorie cost.

Check out the nutritional stats at the end.  Definitely good enough to qualify as a “Skinny Secret” recipe.
Good for fiber and protein. Very satisfying.

Ingredients:

• 4 large yellow or red bell peppers, halved lengthwise and seeded
• olive oil spray
• 1/2 pound ground meat (beef, sausage, turkey sausage) (optional)
• 1/4 c. onions, chopped
• 2 cups rice, cooked
• 1 medium zucchini, diced
• 1 cup black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup corn, fresh or frozen
• 1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• Pepper, freshly ground
• 1/2 cup monterey jack cheese, grated

Directions:

Heat oven to 450 degrees.  Line a large jelly-roll pan with foil.  Spray outside of pepper halves with oil.  Arrange peppers cut side down on prepared pan; bake on lower rack 15 to 20 minutes.  When finished cooking, turn right side up and arrange in 9 x 13 inch dish.

Meanwhile, saute ground meat of your choice if you are using it. Drain.  Add onions and saute for 3 minutes till soft.    Add cooked rice, corn, zucchini, tomato sauce, spices, and beans and heat thoroughly.

Spoon rice mixture into cooked pepper halves.  Sprinkle cheese over top. Return to oven for about 10 minutes until cheese is melted.  Freezes well.

Nutritional Stats based on 8 servings without meat.

• Calories 341
• Fat 3.6 g
• Sodium 332 mg
• Carbohydrates 65.1 g
• Fiber 7.8 g
• Protein 12.8 g