Stuffed Peppers

Spiced beef and rice fill these tender, flavorful peppers. Bringing the sauce to a boil before adding it to the dish cuts down on the overall cook time of this 45-minute recipe.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 stuffed pepper and 1/3 cup sauce)

Ingredients

• 1  (3 1/2-ounce) bag boil-in-bag long-grain rice
• 4  medium red bell peppers
• 3/4  pound  ground sirloin
• 1  cup  chopped onion
• 1/2  cup  chopped fresh parsley
• 1  teaspoon  paprika
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 1/8  teaspoon  ground allspice
• 2  cups  bottled tomato-and-basil pasta sauce (such as Classico), divided
• 1/2  cup  (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
• 1/2  cup  dry red wine
• Cooking spray

Preparation

Preheat oven to 450°.

Cook rice according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Set aside.

While rice cooks, cut tops off bell peppers; reserve tops. Discard seeds and membranes. Place peppers, cut sides down, in an 8-inch square baking dish; cover with plastic wrap. Microwave at high 2 minutes or until peppers are crisp-tender. Cool.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add beef and the next 5 ingredients (beef through allspice); cook 4 minutes or until beef is lightly browned, stirring to crumble. Remove from heat. Add rice, 1/2 cup pasta sauce, and cheese to beef mixture, stirring to combine.

While beef cooks, combine 1 1/2 cups pasta sauce and wine in a small saucepan; bring to a boil.

Spoon about 3/4 cup beef mixture into each pepper. Place peppers in a 2-quart baking dish coated with cooking spray; add wine mixture to pan. Cover with foil.

Bake at 450° for 20 minutes. Uncover; bake an additional 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve peppers with sauce. Garnish with pepper tops.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

347 (20% from fat)

Fat:

7.9g (sat 3.9g,mono 2.6g,poly 0.7g)

Protein:

26.6g

Carbohydrate:

39.9g

Fiber:

4.6g

Cholesterol:

55mg

Iron:

4.1mg

Sodium:

747mg

Calcium:

284mg