Stuffed Bell Peppers

I'd never actually had stuffed bell peppers before but with the super sweet and flavorful CSA bellpeppers we were getting, it made sense to make them the star on the dish instead of just a supporting actor. When we received several small bellpeppers, as well as one large one, in this week's share, we seized the opportunity. We used this recipe as a base and used what we had on hand.

Makes: Filling for ~8 medium bell peppers

Ingredients
3 medium bell peppers
6 small bell peppers
3 tablespoons butter
3 cloves garlic
7 small yellow squash, cut into 1/4-inch dice
4 ears of corn
1 medium tomato
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 cup cooked rice
1 lb ground turkey
salt
ground black pepper
grated Parmesan cheese

Directions
PREHEAT oven to 350F

WASH bell peppers
SLICE in half, through the stem
REMOVE seeds

PLACE, cavity side up, on baking sheet
LIGHTLY salt and pepper

MINCE garlic
DICE squash and tomatoes
SLICE corn off the cob, use the dull side of the knife to pull off the remaining kernels and "milk"
Finely chop basil

ADD thawed ground turkey and 1/3 of the minced garlic to a heated skillet
COOK until just cooked through

MELT butter in large saucepan
ADD garlic and squash
SAUTÉ until just beginning to become tender (~4 min)
STIR in corn and tomato
COOK until just heated through
ADD basil, rice, ground turkey, salt and pepper (to taste)
COOK until most of the liquid is absorbed

SPOON into peppers
BAKE for 20-30 minutes until the skin of the peppers are just starting to crinkle and the edges are turning black

SPRINKLE with Parmesan cheese

Enjoy!

My Thoughts
1. This is a fairly non-traditional stuffed pepper recipe (most seem to be meatloaf in a pepper). It was delicious, light, summery, and faintly sweet (from the corn and the squash). The Parmesan was a wonderful addition, providing a nice balance to the meat and veggies.

2. The lack of sauce meant that the ingredients were likely to tumble out as you were trying to eat it. A very light sauce might solve this problem and accent the dish nicely--perhaps something cheese based?

3. We ended up with far too much filling for our peppers, so if you want to only make ~4-5 peppers worth, you might cut this in half or two thirds.