Stoplight peppers can also be made with ground beef, or pork.
Stoplight peppers with ground turkey make for a visually pleasing, lower fat and nutrition-packed dish that is thrifty and can be easily modified to taste.
Kids love the idea of a meal in a “container” and the red/yellow/green peppers–hence the “stoplight” moniker allows them to choose their favorite color.
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
ingredients
- 1 lb ground turkey; white meat is lower fat, but use mixed light/dark turkey if you prefer
- 6 medium peppers: 2 each, red/yellow/green
- 1/2 yellow onion, finely diced
- 1/4 cup celery, very finely diced
- 1/2 cup parsley, finely diced
- 1/2 cup finely diced carrots
- 1 tbs tomato paste
- 1 tsp garlic paste
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp, each — salt, pepper
- 3/4 cup panko bread crumbs
- 2 tbs water chestnuts, very finely diced
- 2 tbs sun dried tomatoes, very finely diced
- 1/2 cup vegetable broth
- 2-3 tbs olive oil
cooking instructions
- Heat olive oil in heavy bottomed skillet (over medium heat)
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
- Saute the onions, celery and carrots for about 5 minutes, until the onions are translucent
- Add ground turkey, salt, pepper, paprika, chili powder, water chestnuts, garlic paste and sun dried tomatoes; cook turkey through and lower heat — leave mixture on the flame for 10-15 minutes to allow the flavors to develop
- Carefully incorporate bread crumbs
- Prep the peppers: rinse thoroughly, slice the tops so that you can remove them whole; remove seeds and the white pith inside the peppers
- Spray a 9×12 casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray
- Remove the turkey mixture from the heat
- Stuff the peppers with the meat mixture and put the tops of the peppers back on (like a cap)
- Place the peppers in the greased casserole dish
- Bake for about 30 minutes until the peppers are fork tender
Variations: If you like, sprinkle cheese on the meat mixture before putting the “cap” on each pepper.