Indian Stuffed Peppers

Preheat your oven to 400ºF. Wash your bell peppers and dry them. Slice bell peppers lengthwise, trying to keep both halves even in size. Take out the core of the bellpepper with all the seeds and discard. Put a dab of olive oil in your hands and slather on the outside of the peppers and place in a baking dish.

Next, mince your fresh garlic, serrano chili and ginger and set aside. Chop your onion and mushrooms and set aside. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to a skillet on medium heat. Allow oil to get hot. Place your curry powder, cumin, tumeric and red pepper flakes in the oil. (Be careful, the oil may splatter.) Stir the spices and let cook for about 30 seconds.

Then add your fresh garlic, ginger and serrano chili. Saute in oil and spices until the garlic becomes fragrant. Add mushrooms and onion to the skillet. Saute until onion and mushrooms are soft. Add ground beef/turkey to this mixture, stir and cook until beef is browned. Add cooked rice and tomato sauce to the skillet. Stir and cook until tomato sauce gets hot.

Immediately fill your bell pepper halves with the mixture. Don’t be afraid to really mound the mixture on top! Press the mixture down into the bell pepper so that it will not spill out. Place the baking dish with the bell peppers into your 400ºF oven for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, remove your stuffed bell peppers and put them on a plate. Garnish with fresh cilantro leaves and serve.