When I was in high school, I babysat for a family for with three little boys. Their mom was in nursing school, and I sometimes slept over when she was on night shift. (Did I mention she was a single mom? In retrospect, holy cow.) Anyway, on those nights, she would prepare dinner in advance, so all I had to do was heat it up for the kids. I don’t remember anything else about those dinners except STUFFED PEPPERS. They were so good, and also had a novelty factor because they just weren’t something we ate at home.

Fast forward 15 years, and I truly could not tell you the last time I made stuffed peppers. Maybe in my first few post-university years, but they definitely involved Minute Rice, soooo…yeah. I pinned this recipe as soon as I saw it back in October, and I’m not sure what took me so long to make it. This was the best thing to come out of my kitchen in a month when nothing was really going my way! The only change I made to the recipe was to add some cooked rice, since that’s how I remember they were prepared back in the day, as well as to double the baking time, since I like the peppers to be soft instead of crunchy. The feta adds a nice salty edge. I ate this for lunch everyday for a week, and never got tired of it. I think it’s time to make them again!

Turkey & Feta Stuffed Peppers

Source: Eat, Live, Run (another Jenna recipe…she’s on a roll)

Ingredients

• 4-5 green peppers (maybe 6 depending on how big the peppers are where you live)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3 or 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1 28oz can diced tomatoes
• 2 tsp dried oregano*
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp dried red pepper flakes
• 1 cup feta cheese, crumbled (plus extra for sprinkling on top)
• 1 cup cooked rice*

*I saw Molly Yeh make Shawarma Stuffed Peppers on Girl Meets Farm and while making them realized I could basically use this recipe instead with a few substitutions.  Just swap in basmati rice for white rice and the following spices for the oregano: 1 tsp curry powder, 1 tsp garam masala, 1/2 tsp turmeric. They are DELICIOUS. You can also top with a drizzle of tahini sauce which is 1/4 cup tahini + 3 tbsp cold water + 1 tbsp lemon juice.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 and line a glass baking dish with foil. Spray with non-stick spray. Slice the tops off the peppers and pull out the core and seeds.
2. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat, and saute the onion for 5 minutes or until soft. Add the garlic and saute for 1 more minute. Add the tomato paste and saute for 3 minutes.
3. Increase the heat to medium-high and add the ground turkey. Saute until brown and cooked through.
4. Add the diced tomatoes, oregano, salt and red pepper flakes. Stir and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer for 15-20 minutes until sauce reduces. Remove from heat and stir in feta and cooked rice. Fill the peppers, and sprinkle a little extra feta on top.
5. Cover dish with foil and bake for an hour, until peppers are soft. They’ll keep in the fridge for a week.