No Squash? Be Ashamed.

I’m so ashamed.

I pride my self in my menu planning and in purchasing the ingredients I need for the menu for the week. That way when I come home, I can start cooking. I don’t have to worry about deciding what I want to make or having to run to the store. It makes life so much easier that way.

I had several dishes this week that needed yellow squash. So while I was in my local warehouse club, I spied a net bag of five yellow squash. Thinking that would work well, I bought it. As the week went on, I made my dishes with the squash and in the last one used it all up, forgetting about these peppers. The next evening, I come home from work and …… no squash. I decided sub in some spinach.

The spinach worked. It was a different texture than what I had planned for, but it worked.

Another substitution was ground beef in place of turkey. That one was planned as I already had it. I think the spinach would have worked better with the turkey though.

Blanching the peppers.

Peppers and onions, the key to my heart.

The spinach wilting.

Into the peppers and onions.

Delicious!

Stuffed Peppers

Prep Time: 20 mins | Cook Time: 40 mins | Makes: 4 | Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp olive oil,plus more for baking dish
• 4 medium bell peppers
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 1/4 lbs ground turkey
• 1/2 cup low carb tomato sauce
• 1 small (4 ounce) zucchini or yellow squash, diced or cut into half moons
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp dried thyme
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup walnuts or pecans coarsely chopped

Directions:

1) Heat oven to 375° . Oil a small baking dish.

2) Cut the top 1/2 inch from peppers; set aside. Scoop out seeds with a spoon. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil; blanch peppers for 5 minutes. Remove and run under cold water. Pat dry inside and out.

3) Meanwhile, finely chop pepper tops. Heat oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Add chopped peppers and onion and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add turkey and cook, stirring, until meat is no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomato sauce, zucchini or yellow squash, salt, thyme and pepper; continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid evaporates, 5 to 8 minutes. Remove pan from heat and stir until mixture cools slightly, about 1 minute. Stir in eggs.

4) Spoon mixture into peppers, place in baking dish. Sprinkle walnuts over filing. Bake until peppers are tender and filing is hot, about 20 minutes.

To freeze: cool cooked stuffed peppers completely. Wrap in heavy duty foil or place in freezer containers.

To reheat: Defrost overnight in refrigerator. Place in oiled baking dish into which they fit snugly. Cover with foil and reheat at 350° until hot, about 30 minutes. Or, remove from freezer, remove foil, place in oiled baking dish, and bake at 350° until hot, 40-50 minutes.