A Healthy Meal from Pantry and Freezer Staples: Pick a Peck of Greek Stuffed Peppers
When I’m on the road for work, I don’t eat super healthy. See also: the Facebook photo I just posted featuring my two-hot-dog lunch this afternoon. So when I’m home, I actually crave low-fat protein and veggies. But that doesn’t mean that I just sit around cramming raw kale into my mouth. I want my low-fat protein and veggies to be tasty.
And then there’s the time factor. And how much I hate grocery shopping. And the fact that since I’m rarely home, I pretty much never have a fully stocked fridge. The struggle, as someone once said, is real.
Enter meals like this–Greek stuffed peppers made from primarily frozen and canned ingredients. It was quick, it was easy, it was tasty, and it was made from pantry staples you can keep unopened for years (and opened, in the door of your fridge, for far longer than you probably should. Come on–I can’t be the only one with fridge doors full of questionable jars of olives, right?)
As an added bonus, this recipe contains three different kinds of peppers. Peter Piper would be proud.
Pick a Peck of Greek Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
2 red peppers, halved and de-seeded
1 pound ground turkey
16 ounce bag frozen spinach
6 ounces crumbled feta
small handful pitted Kalamata olives (1/3 of a jar)
around 4 jarred roasted red peppers
small handful pickled peppers (or 5-6 pepperoncini, sliced)
lemon juice
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375.
- Thaw frozen spinach. Place in dish towel and wring out excess water. THIS STEP IS NOT OPTIONAL.
- Pre-roast red pepper halves for 5-7 minutes. This step is optional, but will result in a slightly softer pepper.
- Combine spinach, ground turkey, and feta in a bowl. Mix well. Stuff into pre-roasted pepper halves.
- Bake peppers for 40 minutes.
- Combine olives, jarred roasted red peppers, and lemon juice in food processor. Blend until smooth.
- Serve peppers topped with olive-pepper sauce and garnish with pickled peppers.
Serves 4
These are easy to make in large batches, and the leftovers only get better, so consider making a double batch and enjoying them later in the week. They also freeze pretty well, though if you are planning on prepping ahead of time and freezing, skip the pre-roasting of the red peppers. They will soften enough in the freezing and thawing process.
