This is a great recipe if you are a bit short on time and even a bit low on points. You get a tasty meal, packed with flavour and lovely and filling. If you don’t have time to stuff the peppers you could just add more pepper to the mince mixture and have yourself a rice bowl. I’ve tried both stuffed into peppers and just in a bowl with some salad. Both are delicious.

I served both versions with a big green salad with fresh coriander and a tsp of half fat sour cream, guacamole and spicy salsa.

There are loads of cheats to this recipe. You can replace the spices with a fajita packet mix (I like discovery medium). You could also use lean beef mince instead of turkey mince but this would make it 8sp per person. You could even use microwaveable rice to make this even easier!

Mexican Stuffed Peppers

Serves 4 = 5sp per serving (Flex) 

Ingredients

8 x large peppers, whole, tops sliced off and deseeded (diced the tops up and pop to one side)

160g rice, dried

1 chicken stock cube

450g lean turkey breast mince, raw

1 onion, finely chopped

2 tsp cumin, ground coriander, paprika

1 tsp smoked paprika

½ tsp garlic granules, cayenne pepper and sugar

1 courgette, chopped into little chunks

Box of mushrooms, chopped into little chunks

Half a tin of chopped tomatoes (or 2 tbsp tomato puree and a splash of water)

Half a bunch of fresh coriander, roughly chopped

80g half fat mature cheddar, grated

Method

Pre heat the oven to 180c.

First pop your rice on to cook in a pan of boiling water, throw the stock cube in and stir so it dissolves. While the rice is cooking you can get on with the rest of the dish.

Pop your peppers (minus the top or ‘lid’ as my other half likes to call it), in the microwave for 4 minutes to soften.

Then, take a large frying, spray with 1kal and fry the onions for around 5 minutes until they start to soften. Then add the mince, fry for another two minutes and then add the spices and sugar and season well with salt and pepper. Fry for another two minutes and then add the courgette, left over diced pepper and mushrooms. Fry for another few minutes until everything has started to soften. Add the chopped tomatoes (or if using tomato puree, make a well in the centre of the pan, add the puree and water, stir and then combine with mince mix). Simmer until the rice is ready.

Drain the rice and then add to the mince mixture. Simmer for a minute or two so the rice combines nicely with the mince and sauce. The mince should be evenly distributed throughout the rice and the mixture not too watery. If any excess water, simmer until gone.

Stand the peppers upright into a baking dish and scoop the mixture into each until full. Top each pepper with 10g cheese and then pop into the oven for 15 minutes until the peppers are a little charred.

Serve with green salad with a sprinkle of fresh coriander. I also served mine with a tsp of half fat sour cream, guacamole and spicy salsa (don’t forget to add the extra points if you have these).

Enjoy!

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Ingredients

Serves 4 = 6sp per portion (Flex)

300g lean lamb steak, cubed into 2cm pieces

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 peppers, deseeded and sliced

1 tbsp ras-el-hanout (or Shwartz Moroccan Spice Mix)

2 tsp ground coriander

Sprinkle of crushed chillies

1 butternut squash, peeled and diced

100g soft dried apricots, halved

400g can chopped tomatoes

240g chickepeas, drained

500ml lamb (or beef) stock (made with 1 stock cube)

Zest  of 1 lemon

Small bunch coriander, chopped

To serve (add the extra points as required)

Couscous

Natural yogurt with a swirl of harissa

Method

Pre heat the oven to 180C.

Heat 1kal in a flameproof casserole dish, add the lamb, season and brown on all sides. Scoop the lamb out the pan and pop to one side. Then in the same pan, spray again with 1kal add the onion and cook for 5 minutes until softened (add a small splash of water to stock the onions sticking). Then add the garlic, pepper and spices and cook for a few more minutes, adding a splash of water to stop the spices catching and burning.

Add the lamb as well as the squash, apricots and chickpeas to the casserole, pour over the tomatoes and stock, season well and bring to the boil.

Pop the lid on and transfer to the casserole dish to the oven. After 1 hour, stir the tagine and return to the oven, uncovered, for a further 30 minutes.

Sprinkle over the lemon zest and coriander.

Serve with couscous (I used a pack of Ainsley Harriot and added a little lemon juice) and top with a swirl of yogurt and harissa. Finish with a few sprigs of coriander.

Enjoy!

The post Lamb, Butternut Squash and Apricot Tagine – 6sp first appeared on Slimming Kitchen Secrets.