DINNER: Easy, Fire Roasted Stuffed Bell Peppers

I love stuffed bell peppers, but am not the biggest fan of the pan/oven work involved - this recipe skips the oven, is very easy to make, low in fat, and tastes amazing.

Serving Size: 2

Total Prep/Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 large red bell peppers, cut each bell pepper lengthwise and remove stem and seeds
• 1/3-1/2 pound lean ground beef (ground chicken or turkey work as well, as does tofu)
• 1.5-2 cups mushrooms, coarsely chopped
• 2 tomatoes (Roma tomatoes work fine in terms of size), chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4-5 cloves, garlic, crushed
• Spices
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground basil
• 1/4 cup favorite melting cheese - blue cheese is ideal

Instructions:

• Saute onions and garlic in 1-2 tsp of olive oil until lightly browned

• Add in spices, ground beef, mushrooms, tomatoes, and an additional tbsp of olive oil

• Once beef is thoroughly browned, move mixture to one side of the pan and place bell peppers in pan with hollows face up (or place peppers in a freshly oiled pan if this is too complicated)

• Lower heat to a simmer and fill bell peppers with beef mixture - cover pan and let sit over heat for 3-5 minutes
• Remove bell peppers from the pan, sprinkle blue cheese over peppers and serve (I also like to serve the peppers topped with my fresh guacamole)
• Enjoy!