Stuffed peppers have always been a go-to for me. They are an easy way to get loads of nutrients in a small and delicious dish.

Recently, I found out that my stuffed peppers are my fiancee’s favorite dish that I make, so it’s only fitting that this is my first recipe post!

I will lovingly call this dish… “Pete’s Perfect Pepper”.

My stuffed peppers are always different because I basically use whatever I have in the house. No matter what, try to stick to these basic categories: 1) the pepper (duh); 2) a lean meat; 3) a little carb; 4) a light sauce.

Total cook time: 30 minutes

What you need:

2 medium/large green bell peppers

1.5 cups of lean meat (for this recipe I used tomato basil chicken sausage from Trader Joe’s)

1 cup tomato sauce

1 cup cooked quinoa

First, boil a pot of water and place the peppers into the water. Let them cook until they are soft, but not falling apart.  Depending on the size of the pepper, this usually takes about 15/20 minutes.

While the peppers are cooking, get your stuffing ready!

Today, I used 1.5 cups of lean meat for our stuffing (3/4 cup for a single serving).

I don’t like to waste the tops of the peppers, so I sautee them quickly, and throw them into the stuffing mixture for some extra veggies.

A little carb helps keep the stuffing together. I usually stick to quinoa, but you can use brown rice or even lentils. Quinoa is naturally gluten-free, and is known as a “super food” because of all the nutrients it packs in its small shell. Even though quinoa is a “seed”, it is categorized as a carb since it is prepped and eaten as a grain. I used to make the mistake of eating large portions of quinoa, so just keep an eye on how much of this you are eating on a regular basis. For this recipe, I keep it to one serving per pepper, which is 1/2 cup .

Finally, it’s time to get saucy! I use a simple tomato sauce for all my stuffed peppers. I tend to think this goes well with any lean meat you are using. 1/2 cup is plenty for each pepper! Another tip to keep in mind, make sure you don’t pick a sauce that has too much sugar or sodium in it. Be sure to read the labels!

Now its time to put it together! Mix the stuffing together so everything is coated in the tomato sauce. Remove the peppers from the pot, and stuff them!

If you would like to add cheese, you can add a little part-skim mozzarella to the top of the peppers. The heat of the pepper should melt the cheese nicely.

Voila! You have yourself a lean veggie, super-food packed meal!

Any leftovers are great for the lunch the next day! Or you can turn the stuffing into some other fun dish 🙂

For my 21DF peeps, here is the breakdown:

1 green, 1 red, 1 yellow, 1/2 purple, optional 1/2-1 blue