{Recipe} ~ Southwestern Stuffed Peppers

If you're looking for a quick, healthy weeknight dinner, look no further!

I made a run to the farmer's market last week and wanted to throw something together for dinner using some fresh veggies. I tend to eat big lunches at work since we're always eating out and usually want nothing more than a salad at dinner. But that can get old pretty quickly, so I try to balance it out with other healthy dinner alternatives. This dinner is perfect because you can eat as many (or as a few) peppers as you want based on how hungry you are! But the ground turkey and beans do an excellent job of filling you up (I ended up only eating one and saving the other for a leftover lunch)!

Southwestern Stuffed Peppers
adapted from Skinny Taste

Ingredients:

For the filling:

• 1/4 lb 99% lean ground turkey
• 3/4 cups canned black beans, rinsed and drained
• 3/4 cups frozen corn
• 1 jalepeño pepper, chopped
• 1 large diced tomato
• 1 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tbsp chopped onion
• 1 tsp cumin
• kosher salt to taste

For the peppers:

• 2 red bell peppers, cut in half lengthwise
• 9 tbsp shredded reduced-fat Sargento Monterey Jack cheese
• 1 tbsp chopped scallions, for garnish

Directions:

In a large skillet brown the turkey and season with salt. When the turkey is browned, add onion, garlic, black beans, jalepeño pepper, diced tomatoes, and cumin. Mix well and simmer on low, covered for 20 minutes. Remove lid, add corn and simmer an additional 5 minutes or until all the liquid reduces.

Preheat oven to 350°. Cut peppers in half lengthwise, removing seeds and stem.

Place peppers, cut side up in an oven-proof dish. Fill each pepper with 1/2 cup turkey mixture.  Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the peppers become soft (personal preference as to how soft you want the peppers to be).

Remove foil, top each with 1 1/2 tbsp of cheese and bake uncovered an additional 5 minutes. Top with scallions and serve with reduced-fat sour cream if desired (optional).