the easy, healthy 5 ingredient stuffed pepper recipe

ramekin bowls in caribbean blue by le creuset

Last night was so cold and rainy during my run that all I could think of was a warm shower and comfort food for dinner. When the sun starts setting at 4:30, my body starts craving mac & cheese and an 8:30pm bedtime. Funny how your body resets itself for the cold days of winter coming soon.

While mac & cheese is and will always be one of my favorite foods, last night I decided to make something that was comforting, filling and healthy. I remembered my easy recipe for Stuffed Peppers that relied on only five ingredients -- peppers, rice, ground meat, marinara sauce and cheese. This recipe is easy and you can scale the calories and fat depending on the kind of ingredients you use.

Healthy Stuffed Pepper Ingredients

4 orange peppers
1 pouch of microwavable brown rice (or two cups cooked brown rice)
1 pound of ground chicken breast
1 jar of Marinara sauce
2 cups of reduced far shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Add 8 cups of water to a large pot. Bring to boil.

Wash peppers and slice the top off each pepper. Remove seeds and white pith inside pepper. Drop each pepper into boiling water and cook for ten minutes. Remove peppers, drain water from pepper and place in cooking dish, open side up. Set aside.

Brown chicken in a saute pan. Cook through.

Prepare brown rice and add cooked rice to cooked ground chicken. Add jar of marinara sauce to rice and chicken and heat through until incorporated.  Turn off heat.

Add 1 cup of cheese to rice, chicken and marinara and stir until incorporated.

Using a spoon, add chicken/rice mixture into each pepper, filling to the top. When all four peppers have been filled, top with 1/4 cup of cheese.

Place in preheated oven and cook for 30 minutes.


Notes: 

• Try using orange or red peppers for this dish. Green peppers can taste bland and even bitter.
• Instead of ground chicken, you can use ground beef or meat substitute.
• If you have ramekins, try cooking one stuffed pepper in each dish for a nice presentation.