STUFFED BELL PEPPERS

Stuffed bell peppers can be a very quick, inexpensive and satisfying meal.  I love that they can be prepared ahead of time and cooked when you're ready to eat.  There are lots of ways of cooking bell peppers, stuffing the pepper with raw meat seems to be the "classic" way of doing it.  However, I like to cook the meat and then stuff the pepper, it takes out all the guess work. In addition, I do not use rice, keepin' the recipe Paleo. 

INGREDIENTS:

  

• 2lbs ground beef
• 1 c  zucchini, shredded
• 1 c carrot, shredded
• 1/2 c onion, diced
• 2 c jar of marinara sauce  (no sugar added)
• 4 large green bell peppers, tops removed, seeded
• Sea salt & pepper to taste

PREPARATION:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350F.
2. In a large skillet, begin to brown the beef.
3. When the beef looks almost cooked (still slightly pink) add the shredded carrots, zucchini, diced onion and seasoning to the skillet and cook until slightly tender.
4. Remove from heat.
5. Arrange the bell peppers in a  baking dish and spoon the mixture 1/2 way in each.
6. Add 1/8 cup marinara sauce on top of the beef mixture, then add the remaining beef to the top of the bell pepper.
7. Top each of the bell peppers with more marinara sauce (1/8 cup to 1/4 cup)
8. Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, the bell pepper should begin to look cooked and slightly soft.
9. Remove from the oven and allow to cook for a few minutes before handling, they will be hot!

SERVES 4

COMMENTS:  Because the meat is cooked, you can stuff the peppers, place the sauce on top and put in the refrigerator to heat up later.  Cooking the veggies and how much marinara is completely a personal preference, somedays just I want more sauce than others. They store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days without cooking them, but it really depends on how fresh your bell peppers are.