Recipe: Stuffed Pepper Soup

November 28, 2021Plate Method Recipes Recipes: Fall & Winter

Reinspired recipes are often a fun way to add variety without reinventing the wheel. An oven-baked recipe turned satisfying soup becomes an even simpler way to both warm and fill our bellies. Speaking of easy, this stuffed pepper soup has a few other tricks up its sleeve to make mealtime go off without a hitch. Consider swapping in a leftover cooked rice or another prepared grain, so you can skip the rice-cooking step. Other time-saving swaps include using a frozen, sliced, bell pepper medley in place of fresh peppers or buying precut fresh or frozen chopped onions, carrots, and celery commonly referred to as the mirepoix mixture. Consider whether kitchen hacks like these might be helpful in other recipes you enjoy preparing.

Stuffed Pepper Soup

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

1 C rice
1 lb ground turkey or beef
2 green bell peppers, chopped
1 C onion, finely diced*
1 C carrots, chopped*
3 stalks celery, chopped*
28 oz can diced tomatoes
6 oz can tomato sauce
4 C chicken broth
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Cook rice according to package. Typically, this reads: Add 1 C rice and 2 C water to a saucepan on the stove over high heat. Bring to boil. Cover and reduce to low. Simmer 16-18 minutes or until water is absorbed.
While rice is cooking, brown meat in large stock pot on stove over medium-high heat. If needed, drain fat from pot.
Add bell pepper and onion. Sauté 3 minutes.
Add carrots, celery, tomatoes, tomato sauce, broth, seasoning, salt, and pepper.
Cover, reduce to low, and simmer 35-45 minutes or until celery and carrots are tender.
Add rice to the soup before serving.

Tips:

For soups, chop veggies into a size that will fit on a spoon.
Hate chopping? Replace starred ingredients with a 14.5 oz container of mirepoix from the refrigerated section of Trader Joe’s or 1 1/2 bags of frozen mirepoix (10 oz each) from Whole Foods.
If you plan to use some of this dish as leftovers, keep the rice separate and add it to the bowls just before reheating.

Swaps:

For the rice: cooked cauliflower rice, barley, quinoa, or canned white beans
For the turkey or beef: ground chicken, cooked lentils or crumbled tempeh
For the green peppers: red, orange, yellow, or a combination