Stuffed Peppers

Such a wonderful treat and every time I make this I always wonder why I don't make it more often. Stuffed anything sounds really good - stuffed meatballs, stuffed pizza, Calzones, Jelly doughnuts - hello?! delish! Stuffed peppers are no exception and so darn easy you can basically do everything in one pot and wash that while your peppers are in the oven cooking! I always leave the pepper whole when I do this, but hubby suggested cutting them in half - he says that this style is quite popular. So next time I will try that.

Stuffed peppers
-6-8 large green peppers (look for bottoms that will stand in a baking dish)
-2 cups cooked cooled rice
-1LB ground turkey, seasoned
-1 med/large onion diced
-1-2 cloves garlic, smashed and diced
-Approx 2 cups tomato sauce
-8oz Mozzarella, grated
***Cook rice first while you prep. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut (and keep) tops off of peppers and wash them out, removing any seeds. If they don't stand upright you can cut them in half down the middle or slice the bottoms to make them even. Dice the onions and the garlic. Use any flesh from the tops of the green peppers and dice it. Add onions, garlic and diced pepper to a large saucepan with a tablespoon of olive oil. Season with a little salt and pepper and some italian seasoning if you have it. Let soften for about 5 minutes and add ground turkey. Cook while stirring and breaking apart the meat frequently. Once meat is cooked through, add rice. Feel free to leave some rice aside if you prefer your stuffing to be more meaty. Add sauce. I used a 50/50 mix of canned tomato sauce, and spaghetti sauce. I also take this opportunity to add more seasoning if needed. Some people like to blanch or put their peppers into boiling water for a moment to aid in the cooking process. I do not. I stuff the peppers, top with grated cheese and fill my baking dish halfway with water. I cover the peppers with foil for approximately 30 minutes and take the foil off for 10 minutes. Once you take your peppers out, let them sit for awhile, 10-15 minutes. The juices settle and it tastes amazing!

30 Nights of Salad - Day 22

BLT Salad with Avocado. Seriously, 'nuff said.

I grilled 4 pieces of bacon on the George Foreman grill and we had 2 apiece. I chopped up some Avocado, and added some Wonton crisps and we got down. One of the easiest and best salads we've had yet.



BLT Salad with Avocado
-Lettuce
-Tomato
-Bacon
-Avocado
-Wonton Crisps (optional)
***Amazing and we did not use dressing. The creaminess of the Avocado and the natural juices of the lettuce and tomatoes did just fine. If you only try one salad it's got to be this one!

30 Nights of Salad - Day 21

How do you "Jerk" chicken?

Jerk traditionally refers to the way the meat is cooked with certain spices dry rubbed onto the meat - usually beef or pork. Today this term refers to the spices itself. Jerk seasoning is a spicy and often slightly sweet concoction of fantastic-ness. The spicy comes from the Pimento A.K.A. Allspice and usually the sweet comes from the addition of dark brown sugar which still maintains some molasses which gives it a deep rich flavor. Although I have a good idea of the spices that go into making a good Jerk rub I have never made my own. I prefer the flavor of Blue Mountain's Jerk Season. A little of this stuff goes a long way. Then when my meat is cooked, I cook it even longer with some World Harbor's Jerk Sauce on top and your meat comes out so amazing and delicious - we can't stop eating the stuff until our mouth is burning and then we go drink some milk and get back to it!




For this Salad, I jerked some chicken breast, sliced it and spread it on top of the salad and we ate it all. We even went back and ate the leftover chicken that night. It was goooood!









Jerk Chicken Breast
-1 LB skinless boneless chicken breast
-1 Tablespoon of Jerk seasoning
-1/2 cup Jerk Sauce
***Since Chicken breast dries out easily, it's important to cook it fast and keep it covered. My meat was somewhat thick but I wrapped it in a foil package and cooked it at 350 degrees for about a half hour. Then I open the package up and added the sauce and let it cook for another 15 minutes or so.

Jerk Chicken Salad
-Sliced Jerk Chicken (see recipe above)
-Lettuce
-Tomato
-Corn
-Wonton crisps
***There wasn't much sauce left but we used the little bit as a dressing. The corn added a little bit of sweetness that goes well with the Jerk chicken. You can also add melon or mango to this salad. The fruit lightens the Jerk and keeps the spicy from being too overwhelming. Enjoy!

30 Nights of Salad - Day 20

Sausage salad sounds unlikely I know, but it came out amazing! I used chicken apple sausage and added chopped apples! Easy & yummy!


Chicken Apple Sausage Salad
-Lettuce, chopped
-Grape Tomatoes
-1/2 Golden Delicious Apple, chopped
-1/2 Gala Apple, chopped
-1 Chicken Apple Sausage, sliced
***I sliced the sausage and put it on the grill for a few minutes. Put the salad together and add chopped pecans if you like. I used Raspberry dressing for this salad and it went perfectly.

Delish!

30 Nights of Salad - Day 18 & 19

Bulgogi! have you heard of it? It's a Korean dish and usually the meat is beef. But you can whip together the ingredients and use fish - Salmon to be exact. I used a recipe my husband found here as my basis and edited it a little. I have a hard time following recipes to the T. I like to rebel against cookbooks I guess. I used these ingredients here:



and marinated the salmon for 2/3 hours and then baked and then ate! This makes a flavorful salad and I can't wait to try it with beef!

Marinade for the Salmon:
-2 large garlic cloves, peeled, divided
-1/2 cup chopped green onions
-1/2 cup soy sauce
-1 3/4-inch cube peeled fresh ginger
-3 teaspoons sugar (I like to use light brown sugar for marinades)
-2 teaspoons Asian sesame oil
-1 teaspoon chili-garlic sauce*
-4 6-ounce center-cut skinless salmon fillets
-1 tablespoon olive oil
-1/4 cup water
***Put the marinade and the salmon (and some thickly sliced onion if you like) in an oven ready dish and put in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours, cover with foil. Place the dish in a 350 degree oven for approx 15 minutes. Take the foil off and flip over and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Once the Salmon is cooked through, take out of oven and let rest while you assemble the salad ingredients:


Salmon Bulgogi Salad
-Salmon Bulgogi
-Lettuce, chopped
-Red Bell Pepper, thinly sliced
***I used the sauce for the dressing - assemble the salad and crumble the salmon on top. Also, this would go fantastic over rice! Enjoy!

30 Nights of Salad - Day 17

We had a blast with this salad! I marinated the chicken breast in Italian dressing - just a little for a few hours and then grilled it and oh yummy! While it cooked, I threw some bacon and sliced onions onto the grill and threw it all into the salad. Amazing!










Grilled Chicken Salad
-2 large chicken breast (you can cut them in half before or after cooking)
-2 strips of bacon per salad
-1 medium onion, thickly sliced into rings
-1 avocado, chopped
-Lettuce, chopped
-Tomatoes, chopped
-Italian dressing
***Let the chicken breast sit in some italian dressing for a few hours, and then place on a hot grill or pan. Grill the onions and bacon as well. Keep your eye on the bacon since it cooks really quickly. Chop up the chicken and bacon and throw the salad together. I used a little italian dressing on the salad and it was great! Yum!

30 Nights of Salad - Day 16

Scallops!!! Lightly Fried in Olive Oil and added a few accoutrements - Like roasted red pepper, wonton chips and tomato - that's it!

Scallop Salad
-12 average sized Scallops
-Olive Oil
-Lettuce, chopped
-Tomato, sliced
-Roasted Red Pepper, sliced
-Wonton Chips
***We used Lemon juice and a little olive oil for the dressing - wonderful!

Salad does not have to be boring or the same everyday. You can try new things and ingredients like Scallops, or maybe even Hamburger! Hmmm....we'll see. Enjoy!