Garden State Stuffed Peppers

This is a great time for produce in the state of New Jersey.  Zucchini, green peppers, corn, string beans, and tomatoes are all in season.

For dinner tonight I used the zucchini and green peppers and made a dinner that the human roommate says almost makes up for the craziness he endured earlier in the evening.

Grad school has been causing me to have less gym time than I would have in years prior, so I have to make up the difference by eating lower calorie food.  However, I am a foodie and cardboard just won't do.  These peppers taste amazing and are less than 350 calories each.

 Makes six servings:
Ingredients: 
6 Jersey Green Bell Peppers
1 lb Ground Bison (Lean ground beef would work as well, but bison has less fat and is so yummy.)
2 cups Quinoa cooked
3 cups Pasta Sauce divided
1 very large Jersey Zucchini diced
2 cloves of Garlic miched
1/2 tsp Onion Powder
1 tbsp Italian Seasoning
1 tbsp of Hot Sauce (less if you like things medium or mild) 
1 cup shredded Monterrey Jack (Do yourself a favor and buy the block of cheese and grate it, it tastes so much better.)
Salt and Pepper
Cooking Spray

Preparation
1) Preheat oven to 350

2) Brown the ground bison over medium high heat in a large skillet. Remove from skillet and place into a large mixing bowl.

3) Cook the zucchini over medium heat until somewhat soft but still firm, about 8 minutes.  Add the zucchini and quinoa to the mixing bowl.

4) Stir in 1c of pasta sauce, garlic, onion powder salt and pepper.  Mix well.

5) Cut the tops off of the peppers and place off to the side.  Remove the seeds and membranes from the peppers.

6) Place the bottoms of the peppers in a 9 x 13 pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray.  Fill the peppers with the bison mixture.

7) Mix the remaining two cups of pasta sauce, Italian seasoning, and hot sauce.  Top each pepper with 2 tbsp of the mixture and then place the tops back on the pepper and place in the oven.  Set the timer for 1 hour.

8) The remaining sauce mixture should be used to baste the peppers periodically throughout cooking, every 15 minutes or so.

9) During the last 8 minutes of cooking sprinkle with the Monterrey Jack cheese.

10) Eat and enjoy.



Nutrition info (given based off of the ingredients I used)

Calories: 345
Carbs: 28g
Fat: 15g
Protein: 24g
Sodium: 550mg (You can reduce the sodium by using homemade or low sodium sauce.  I used jarred.)
Sugar: 12g