Super Veggie-stuffed Peppers

For my latest culinary foray, I once again turned to Lisa Lillien’s Hungry Girl 200 Under 200. Lillien has a knack for healthy dishes that manage to taste good too -- as I discovered yet again when I made her super veggie-stuffed peppers.

The dish offers a flavorful blend of vegetables and toppings --- mushrooms, onions, tomato sauce, low-fat cheese, garlic and taco seasoning mix. I substituted Morningstar Farm’s griller recipe crumbles for the recommended soy crumbles, which I think gave it a little more zest. Total cooking and prep time was an hour, and I agree with URBakin’MeCrazy blogger Megan that peppers could stand to be cooked longer than 25 minutes before stuffing them.

Delish!

Ingredients:
1 large red bell pepper
1 plum tomato, chopped
1/2 cup frozen ground-beef soy crumbles
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/4 cup canned tomato sauce
2 Tablespoons Shredded Cheese
1/2 teaspoon taco seasoning mix
1/4 teaspoon minced garlic

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Saute mushrooms, onion, soy crumbles and chopped bell pepper for 3-5 minutes, or until veggies are slightly softened. Add Garlic and cook for an additional minute or two. Transfer to a medium bowl. To the bowl add tomato, tomato sauce, and taco seasoning. Mix thoroughly and set aside. Slice off the top of the bell pepper, slice in half lengthwise and remove seeds. Spray a small baking dish lightly with non-stick spray. Place pepper halves in the dish cut side up, and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes. Remove pepper halves from oven and reduce temperature of oven to 350 degrees F. Once pepper halves are cool enough to handle, use paper towel to soak up any excess moisture on the peppers. Evenly spoon veggie mixture into pepper halves. Return to the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Add Shredded Cheese on top, and put under broiler until the cheese begins to bubble!