Stuffed Peppers With Ground Turkey and Cabbage

Peppers are a member of the ‘nightshades’ family along with tomatoes, potatoes and eggplant. Unfortunately nightshades have gotten a bad wrap because of a substance in them that protects them from bugs. But just like coconut oil was taboo once upon a time, we’ve become better informed about the value of nightshades in our diet. It has been clinically established that tomatoes and peppers are amazing sources of antioxidants and lower the risk of cancer and heart decease. Potatoes are a comfort food and there is something to be said for food that makes us feel good. Potatoes are a very good source of vitamin B6 and also contain vitamin C, potassium, copper, manganese, phosphorus and pantothenic acid. Eggplant contains an array of vitamins and minerals and what gives it its bitter taste is its phenols, known to be one of the most powerful fee radical scavengers . All the nightshades are high in fiber. Cabbage and horseradish are cruciferous vegetables that contains powerful antioxidants and have anti-inflammatory properties. (Horseradish is a superfood containing 10 times more cancer fighting glucosinolates than broccoli.)

Stuffed Peppers With Ground Turkey and Cabbage

Ingredients

• 4 – 6 (depending on size) red, orange, yellow or green sweet peppers, halved and seeded (or 8-10 Hungarian sweet peppers*)
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup chopped cabbage
• 1 cup chopped sweet red pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3/4 pound ground turkey
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1 15 ounce can tomato sauce, divided
• 2 tablespoons catsup
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon horseradish
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 2/3 cup long grain brown rice, cooked in 1 1/3 cups water with 1/3 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
• 2 tablespoons parsley, chopped

Instructions

Boil peppers for five minutes and drain. Cook the turkey until pink is gone, drain and set aside. Sauté onion, cabbage, chopped red pepper and garlic in olive oil for 10 minutes. Add the cumin and cook 1 minute. Return the meat to the pan along with half of the can tomato sauce, catsup, Worcestershire sauce, horseradish, salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the rice and 1/2 cup of the cheese. Spread the remaining tomato sauce on the bottom of a casserole. Arrange the peppers on the sauce and fill with the meat mixture. Top with remaining cheese and chopped parsley. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 minutes.
*Hungarian sweet peppers are smaller. They are very tender and the walls are thinner so you only need to pre boil them 2-3 minutes instead of 5 minutes.