Try this Skinny Italian Beef Peppers recipe
- 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp garlic minced
- 4 celery stalks diced
- 4 bell peppers diced (i used 1 red 1 green, 1 orange, and 1 yellow)
- 1 lb lean ground beef (or ground turkey)
- 1/2 up green onions diced
- 1/4 up lemon juice
- 15 oz can garbanzo beans (chickpeas) rinsed and drained
- 0.7 oz packet all-natural italian salad dressing dry mix
- 1/4 up parmesan cheese grated
- 1/2 sp crushed red pepper flakes
- Carbohydrate 10.3060800112683 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 2.50599999580841 g
- Fiber 2.91280002284102 g
- Protein 2.17248000216778 g
- Saturated Fat 0.379023999428029 g
- Serving Size 1 1 recipe (652g)
- Sodium 130.899000005707 mg
- Sugar 7.39327998842733 g
- Trans Fat 0.110789999933344 g
- Calories 70 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large skillet, add ground beef and cook over medium heat.
- Use a fork or spatula to separate the ground beef and cook until no longer pink. Remove ground beef, place in a bowl, and set aside.
- In same skillet, over medium heat, add olive oil, celery, garlic, peppers and green onions. Cook vegetables 4-6 minutes, until they have softened.
- Return ground beef to skillet. Add lemon juice, Italian seasonings, red pepper flakes, garbanzo beans and 1 Tbsp water. Using a spoon, mix all ingredients together and simmer for 2-3 minutes.
- Transfer mixture to casserole dish. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until cheese has melted.
Substituting ground turkey for lean ground beef removes significant fat content, yielding a drier mixture that requires careful attention during the stovetop simmer to prevent stringiness. Cooks frequently ruin this dish by overcrowding the skillet during the vegetable sauté phase. When celery, garlic, bell peppers, and green onions are piled too deeply into a standard pan, they steam rather than soften, releasing excess moisture that ruins the desired crisp-tender texture.
Heat the olive oil over medium heat and allow aromatics to sweat for four to six minutes until edges turn translucent. Ground beef must be broken apart thoroughly with a spatula during the browning stage to ensure even surface contact with the pan. Undercooking the meat leaves large clumps that fail to absorb the lemon juice and dry Italian seasoning blend during the final two-minute simmer.
Transfer the combined skillet ingredients into a casserole dish prepared with nonstick spray. Sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese evenly over the top surface. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 to 20 minutes. Pull the dish from the oven immediately once the cheese melts and browns slightly to protect the garbanzo beans from splitting apart and turning mealy.
