Unstuffed Peppers with Pan Roasted Squash

It's Monday .... and Man was it a MONDAY!  I had every intention of coming home and making a beautiful presentation of stuffed bell peppers with zucchini and squash k-bobs on the grill...then the aforementioned MONDAY and RAIN...both foiled my enthusiasm and I folded my grand plan.  The thing about having to feed your family is having your ingredients on hand and being forced into plan B is that resourcefulness shows up and becomes your new BFF!

Today's solution was - Unstuffed Peppers and Pan Roasted Squash!  And I must say...dang good in BOTH cases (even if I do say so myself:)!

Unstuffed Peppers is exactly what you would imagine

3 Bell Peppers (washed, seeded and halved)
1 lb ground chuck (browned and drained - ground turkey or chicken is fine if you prefer)
1 box of long grain wild rice (prepared as directed - I microwave mine for 10 minutes)
1 small can tomato sauce*
3 Tbl Worcestershire Sauce
Salt and Pepper to taste

I placed my peppers in the skillet with the lid on for about 5 minutes on each side to start the roasting process.  When they began to cook and become tender, remove them and chop into cubes.  At that point, start your rice in the microwave and add your ground chuck to the skillet, season beef with salt and pepper, then brown and drain.  When the beef is done, add back to skillet, add chopped peppers, add cooked rice, 1/2 cup water, tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce.  Allow mixture to simmer for 10 - 15 minutes on low heat until flavors blend.

* If you like a zippier taste, substitute Rotel Brand tomato sauce for a spicier flavor!

This was all ready in less than half an hour!  It tasted great and would feed four easily.  For us it was one REALLY hungry man, me and two lunches :)

Since my k-bobs were a no go...I tried something I've never done before - I pan roasted sliced squash.  No oil, no breading, nothing...just sliced the yellow squash and zucchini and put it in a non-stick skillet and seasoned it with salt and pepper.  That's it...just let it roast about 4 minutes on each side.  It will brown slightly.  It had a great texture and was so good we were nibbling on it as fast as it came out of the pan!

All I added was a quartered tomato and that plate had every possible pretty color and was a thing to behold!  On the table by 6:00 pm, a relatively healthy dinner with easy clean up.  My Monday is improving by the minute!  Hope yours does too!