Stuffed Bell Peppers

I first had stuffed bell peppers at a friend's house when I was in high school. My friend's mom was the nicest, cutest, Asian lady ever. Seriously, if you meet her, you won't want to go home. She's just that nice. Anyway, it inspired me to try to make some on my own and my recipe has changed since high school, but it still brings back those fuzzy feelings...

Ingredients:
1 cup rice
1 lb ground turkey
1 head of broccoli
1/2 onion
2 cloves of garlic
a large handful of cherry tomatoes
mushrooms (how do you count mushrooms? basically... a lot?)
salt and pepper
olive oil
basil (I used dried)
parsley (I used dried)
tomato sauce (i used prego... shhh...)
parmesan cheese
4 bell peppers

Pre-heat your oven to 350. Start by making some rice. I just used a pressure cooker. So easy. While the rice is cooking, boil a pot of water. While the water is heating up, cut the top off of your bell peppers and take out all the seeds and membranes. It should look like this:

Next, you're going to parboil, (whatever that means), your bell peppers until they're nice and tender. This will be about 2 to 3 minutes. When you take them out, they should be tender. Be careful not to tear them. (Like me!)

Rinse the peppers under cold water to stop them from cooking. Then turn upside down to drain out excess water. Ignore the very large tear.

Next, dice the broccoli, mushrooms, onions, and garlic. Cut the cherry tomatoes into halves, or quarter pieces. You could also do this while the water is boiling.

Heat a large saute pan and then add oil. When the oil is hot, add the turkey. Break up into small pieces and season with salt and pepper. When it's ALMOST done cooking, add the other vegetables (not the bell peppers!) and stir all together.

When everything is cooked: the broccoli should be bright green, the onions and mushrooms should be nice and soft, and the tomatoes slightly smushy. Season with salt and pepper. The next step is up to you. You can add some tomato sauce (amount varies on your preference) now, or you can use it all later. At this point, add some basil and parsley (About a tsp of each) and mix well.

Next, stuff your rice and veggie mixture into your bell peppers. Cover the bottom of an oven-proof container with pasta sauce and place bell peppers on top of sauce. Cover with freshly grated parmesan cheese and pop into the oven until cheese melts. About 10-20 minutes.

Remove from oven, and place on a plate, spreading some sauce on the bottom first. Enjoy!

I forgot to take an "after" picture. So I "borrowed" this from google images. (jdfoods.net) I thought the idea of putting the tops back on was cute. And it looks like they used couscous. I love the idea of variations. Tell me yours!

p.s. I know I used prego, but my favorite pasta sauce that comes in a jar is RAO's homemade spicy arrabbiata sauce. They carry it at whole foods. So expensive! So oily! So good!