Stuffed Green Pepper Soup

I attended the University of Wisconsin Whitewater. For some reason, the people of Whitewater refused to allow any sort of dining establishment that was remotely healthy and delicious. We had the typical fast food staples and bar food. There were a few greasy spoon options. There was one place you only went to when your parents came to visit and would take you. I discovered Toppers here. I hold Toppers entirely responsible for my freshman 15.

One fine day, a friend and I found a spot with a moderate level of health. Oddly enough, it was a place on main street that delivered ice cream. (Genius, right?) If you took the time to actually go there, you would find a sandwich shop as well. For lunch they had a small salad bar and 7, yes seven, different kinds of soup. One of the soups was… drum roll please… stuffed green pepper soup. Until this point I had never had the soup version of this dish my mother made for me as a child. The same dish I have tried to make at least 5 times and failed miserably. Part of my failure derived from my mother’s lack of measurements in her recipe (I am slowly learning this runs in the family) and the other from my apparent inability to successfully pull off seemingly simple dishes.

With that said, I now live an hour from Whitewater and an hour from my magnificent cook of a mother. This left my stuffed green pepper craving high and dry. Until I discovered my love for soup making. That combined with my recipe hunting skills and I had just what I needed. A healthy, stuffed green pepper soup to warm winter months.

Ingredients

2 lbs ground turkey

2 28 oz cans of petite diced tomatoes

2 16 oz cans of tomato sauce

3 cups brown rice, cooked

3 cups chopped green peppers

1 1/2 cup chopped onion

6 cloves chopped garlic

2 tbsp worchestire

6 cups beef or chicken stock, more if you would like a thinner soup

salt and pepper to taste, start with a tsp of each

shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Brown the ground turkey in a large stock pot.

2. Add the onions, peppers, garlic and beef stock. Cook together for 15 minutes.

3. Add remaining ingredients and allow to simmer until desired pepper/onion consistency. Add water or additional stock to thin the soup out a bit and additional salt, pepper, garlic or worchestire to compliment your taste.

3. When ready to serve, top with sharp cheddar.