Keto-Ish Stuffed Peppers

Ah, comfort food. In this time of #StayHome, I have re-discovered my comfort foods. They seem to be chocolate, wine, and cheese.  Prior to #StayHome, we were adhering to a mostly low-carb diet, and were also watching our sugar intake. That went out the window, to be honest, in dealing with the shock of it all. We'll get back to it eventually, but for now, I'm giving in to some cravings in the name of comfort and serenity. 

The above Stuffed Peppers have the "-ish" description because I cheated and used a jarred tomato sauce, rather than making my own Keto-friendly one. Most jarred tomato sauces contain sugar, or corn syrup. Heck, traditional marinara contains sugar, and it's wonderful. The Keto police would bust me on that one, though. That's probably also more cheese than I need. However, unlike a traditional stuffed pepper, these contain no rice. We found we really didn't miss it. Now, I think you can make a probably pretty darn healthy stuffed pepper using brown rice, or quinoa (have done both) but Mr.  L says he prefers these to the traditional version. I also use ground turkey now, instead of hamburger, which reduces the fat content.

Lastly: they are so easy, and easy is good.

Stuffed Peppers
​Serves Four

You'll need:

Bell peppers - any color
1 package turkeyburger, or hamburger
1 jar of pasta sauce, any type you like
1 small can mushrooms
1/4 onion, chopped
1 t. garlic, chopped
2 T. olive oil
Grated cheese - cheddar, jack, or a combination - about 2 cups

Method:

Bring a large pot of water to boil.
Slice peppers (I like to slice them vertically, but if you'd rather, you can do halves).
Clean seeds out of peppers, and put them into the boiling water to soften, about 8 minutes, Remove and drain.

Heat oil and toss in garlic and onion; stir until onion has softened. Add burger and cook until browned. 
Drain mushrooms and add. 
Add tomato sauce. Combine all.

Spray a 9 x 13 pan with Pam or brush with olive oil. Lay peppers halves in pan. Add scoops of filling to each and sprinkle liberally with cheese.

Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes, or until cheese has browned nicely.

Serve with a green salad.