Stuffed Peppers

My husband loves a good stuffed pepper. Since we are watching our waistlines, I worked on producing  a healthy version of stuffed peppers. We will actually eat this tomorrow. I made it today, because tomorrow is going to be crazy hectic. I want to come home and have something ready to throw into the oven. While they are cooking, I will whip up a salad, and voila, dinner will be ready. For taste and calories, it will beat any takeout.

I used brown rice in the peppers. I have to confess something. I am a terrible rice cook. I seem to have a genetic deficiency when it comes to cooking rice. I'm talking about easy to cook white rice. This issue doesn't even begin to touch the more difficult brown rice. I have discovered a delicious cheat, though. Uncle Ben's ready rice. Pop that sucker in the microwave for two minutes and you are in business. I just love it. One day, I will devote serious time to mastering rice. For now, I have a job and a family to take care of, so, Uncle Ben to the rescue.

Stuffed Peppers

3 bell peppers (I use red, yellow or orange, whichever is the better deal and look the best)
2 links turkey sausage
2 Tbl olive oil, divided
1 small onion, chopped
4 mushrooms, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
1 tsp. Thyme
1 tsp. oregano
1 pkg Uncle Ben's brown Ready Rice
2 c. marinara sauce (I make my own, but any decent jarred will do)
1/2 c. low fat, part skim, grated mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Cut the tops off of the peppers and scoop out the seeds and core. Reserve the tops. Place peppers in a small casserole dish. Cut a bit of the bottom of the peppers off, if they don't stand in the dish.

Cook turkey sausage in a sauté pan with 1 Tbl of the oil over medium high heat. I use a potato masher to help crumble up the sausage.

Once the sausage has browned, put the sausage into a large mixing bowl. Add remaining oil and onions. Season with salt and pepper, continue cooking over medium high heat until onions are translucent. Add the mushrooms and continue cooking. Once the mushrooms have softened, add in the zucchini, thyme and oregano and continue to cook until all of the zucchini is cooked through, slightly firm. Add all of the ingredients into the mixing bowl.

Heat the rice according to package directions and add to the mixture. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. Add in 1/2 c. of the marinara sauce and 1/4 c. of the cheese. Combine all ingredients well.
Scoop the mixture into the peppers. Top with remaining marinara sauce and cheese. Place the tops back on the peppers. If making ahead, cover the casserole dish with aluminum foil and refrigerate. When ready to cook, place in 350 oven for 75-90 minutes. Peppers should be cooked through.