ground meat | Sweet Potato & Spice

I always have high hopes for stuffed peppers. We eat with our eyes first, right? Stuffed peppers always look so amazing. But then I dig in and am like, “Why didn’t I just chop up this pepper and cook it with the filling?” Presentation. That’s why.

These stuffed peppers were delicious! I had only planned on making 2, but there was enough filling for 4 peppers so we ate the extra filling on the side. So, so good.

There are many different methods out there for stuffed peppers. Some have you pre-bake the peppers so you don’t have to bake as long with the filling in. The method I use here bakes & steams the peppers, since they are wrapped tightly with foil. I think this speeds up the baking time a bit.

The recipe I’ve written out below calls for 3/4lb (12 oz) of ground turkey. I actually used about 10 oz, since I bought the pre-packed ground turkey, which came in a 20oz container. I popped the other half of the gound turkey into the freezer, and plan to thaw it some other time to make my Taco Frittata.

You’ll notice it looks like I used more than 2 stalks of celery; actually, I used a diced up cubanelle pepper. I wouldn’t say the recipe needed this, it’s just that it was approaching the end of it’s life in the fridge so it was use it or lose it time.

Even though I only had 2 peppers, the amount of filling made for the recipe would easily fill 4 peppers. And for my non meat-eating readers, I would recommend subbing a can of chickpeas (drained & rinsed) for the ground turkey in this recipe!

Mediterranean Stuffed Peppers

Prep time: 15 min

Cook time: 30 min

Makes: 4 peppers

2 celery stalks, diced
3/4lb ground turkey
14oz can diced tomatoes, drained
2T tomato paste
2t dried rosemary
1/2C feta cheese, crumbled
1/4C dry quinoa, cooked
4 bell peppers, tops off & insides cleared

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees
Add celery to a pan over medium heat, cook until celery starts to soften (~5min)
Add ground turkey to pan, brown
Add diced tomatoes, tomato pates, rosemary and quinoa to pan; mix well and cook long enough to warm through
Take the pan off the heat, add feta cheese and mix well
Fill bell peppers with turkey mixture and place in baking dish
Cover, bake for 30 min
Enjoy!

Question: Do you think presentation makes a difference for a weeknight dinner at home?

I have a handful of meals that I cook every other week or so. Taco Frittata is one of those recipes, and is loosely based on this recipe from Everyday Paleo. I know that there are many strong opinions out there, both positive and negative, about the paleo diet. Full disclosure: we aren’t paleo. That being said, I do love a good paleo recipe and we definitely incorporate some paleo recipes into our diet.

This time I used ground beef, but any ground meat (particularly turkey or chicken) would work just fine here. In fact, I usually use ground turkey, but this week ground beef was on sale so ground beef it was! Do you ever buy ground meat at the butcher counter? You should take a look the next time you’re at the store, not only can you buy exactly the amount of meat that you want, but often times the price is the same (if not lower)!

I’m not sure what the typical way to make a frittata is, but I think this way is pretty easy. The hardest part for this recipe is shredding the sweet potato. I think shredding the sweet potato with a food processor would be easier than hand grating it, but I don’t have one so an arm workout it is!

I use taco seasoning in this recipe, but if you don’t have any on-hand, chili powder would be a good substitute. My favorite taco seasoning is from Trader Joes, but watch out, it has a little kick!

Because the sweet potatoes are shredded, and will bake in the oven for 30 minutes, they don’t need much time cooking on the stove top. I usually start pre-heating the oven when I add the sweet potatoes into the pan and the timing is just right.

Baking this frittata in a baking dish makes this recipe a breeze! Once you have poured the eggs on top, give the casserole a little shake to evenly distribute the eggs before baking.