Another D-Feast Friday Coming Your Way!

I enjoy stuffed peppers but have always made them the typical way, with ground beef and rice as the main stuffing components.  Usually the binding sauce is something tomato based.  But I wanted to see if I could “healthy” it up a bit and avoid using rice since we eat rice at least once a week, and quite frankly, we’re all getting a little tired of rice.  So I opted for extra lean ground turkey and barley and omitted the tomato component.

Once again, the measurements are approximations only.  So don’t start measuring liquids from the bottom of the meniscus at eyeball level or scraping dry measures with any flat edges.  It’s just not necessary.  If a measure seems a little wonky to you, by all means tweak away!  This also means that my carb count per serving is an approximation.


But there’s no denying the nutritional merits of this dish.  Lean protein, fibre, and minerals like selenium, phosphorus, copper and manganese are all there thanks to the turkey and the barley!


My kids absolutely loved this meal.  They asked for it again two days later when I asked them what they felt like for supper!

Sherry’s Turkey and Barley Stuffed Peppers       


What you’ll need:

• 4 large or 6 small bell peppers of various colours
• 2 tbsps olive oil
• 1 lb extra lean ground turkey
• 1 medium onion minced
• 2 carrots coarsely grated
• 2 celery ribs chopped finely
• 2 cloves of garlic minced
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
• 1/2 cup pot barley
• 1 1/2 - 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese finely grated
• 1 tbsp olive oil

What to do:

Cut peppers in half and remove stem, ribs and seeds.  Arrange in a large lasagna pan, open side up.   Set aside.


Heat a large skillet and drizzle in 1 tbsp olive oil.  Brown ground turkey in skillet and then place in another dish.  Set aside.  Return skillet to heat and drizzle in another tbsp olive oil.  Sauté onion, carrots and celery until soft, about 4 - 5 minutes.  Add minced garlic, salt and pepper and poultry seasoning and sauté another two minutes.  Return turkey to skillet.  Add pot barley and 1 1/2 cups of vegetable broth.  Stir and cover.  Reduce heat to simmer for about 15 - 20 minutes, stirring every few minutes.  As it simmers, if barley mixture appears dry add remaining 1/2 cup vegetable broth.  


Mixture is ready to stuff in peppers when it is the consistency of oatmeal and the barley is par-cooked.  Stuff pepper halves dividing stuffing evenly between each pepper half.  (You may find you have left over stuffing.  Don’t worry.  It’s good on it’s own too!)  Pour enough water in lasagna pan to cover bottom.  Cover pan tightly with foil and place in a 400° oven for 35 - 40 minutes.  


Meanwhile, mix bread crumbs, parmesan cheese and olive oil together to make a mixture that resembles damp sand.  Set aside.


Remove baked, stuffed peppers from oven and remove foil.  Carefully top each pepper with about 1 tbsp of mixture and return to oven, uncovered for an additional 10 - 15 minutes until topping is golden brown.  Watch them carefully so as not to over brown the topping.  


These are a meal on their own.  But I would be inclined to serve them with a tossed salad. 


I figure the peppers are about 8 - 10 carbs per half pepper.