Recipe: Stuffed Peppers

I try to make at least one different recipe every week to mix up some of my favorites.  One thing that I always like but forget about a lot is stuffed peppers.  My mom and I were walking a week or so back when she mentioned they were having that for dinner.  It stuck in my head, so I got the ingredients to make it a couple days later.  There are many varieties of stuffed peppers, and I think I have made different ones every time I've made them.  You really can put almost anything you want in a stuffed pepper, but here are the ingredients I used:

Ingredients:  (I didn't put measurements because you really just put the amount you like or need)
Bell pepper, I got one red and one yellow (I don't really care for the green as much, it's worth the extra $.75 or so to buy the other ones in my opinion)
Brown rice
Chicken Apple Sausage, (I use aidell's sausages which I think are fantastic! I have used them in many recipes, they are less fat and I love the flavor of the apple with the sausage).
onion (red or white)
salsa
Shredded Monterey Jack cheese, lite
black beans
cumin
crushed red pepper

Directions:
1.  I first cut the tops of my peppers off.  Make sure you have a large enough hole at the top to stuff the pepper, but not too large to take off a lot of the pepper.  I also sliced just a little bit off the bottoms to let the pepper stand more easily in the baking dish.

2. Per my dad's advice, I put the peppers in a pot of boiling water to soften them up for about 5 minutes.  Meanwhile, cook rice according to package.
3. In a medium hot saute pan, I sauteed onion with garlic and about a half or third of an orange bell pepper I had in the fridge.  I added the chicken sausage and cooked until all items were browned.  Once they were brown, I added the rice and stirred it all together. At this point, you could add any spices you like! As I've said before, I love spicy food, so I dashed some crushed red pepper and cumin.

4.  Next, I spread a bit of salsa on the bottom of my baking dish, set the peppers in, and began to stuff.  I put the rice mixture in first, about one third-half full.  Then added some black beans, about a 1/4 cup or so of salsa, and topped it all with the cheese.

5.  Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or so.  Keep an eye on it and take them out once the cheese is bubbling and just beginning to brown on the edges.

I thought these turned out great and Ross really liked them as well.  They are pretty standard stuffed peppers for the most part, and remember you can always put any ingredients you want. I like that these are pretty low-calorie as well; if you are counting/watching your calories, use lite cheese, and you don't really have to use a lot on top either.   My dad uses hamburger meat instead of sausage.  You can use any veggies, white rice, no rice, corn, etc.  I also dashed mine with a little bit of hot sauce also, gotta have some kick!  Hope you enjoy!
~Kate

Guest Blog: Mexican Stuffed Peppers

Thank you so much to my dear friend, Lauren for a great guest blog today!! Sounds delicious and can't wait to try it!
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As someone who lives alone, I do a LOT of cooking for one. And while it’s sometimes fun to put together a big, complicated meal, most days I’m lucky just to avoid the drive-thru on my way home from work.

Which is why I love recipes like the following for Mexican Stuffed Peppers. These peppers are easy to make, super tasty and have enough “everyday” ingredients to whip up at the last minute. Plus, the recipe makes more than enough for a single meal… in other words, the next day’s dinner is already taken care of!

Mexican Rice and Bean Stuffed Peppers (serves two)

Approximately 1 Tbl oil (I use vegetable oil)

½ an onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

2 bell peppers, any color (I like red or yellow – the colors just pop!)

Pinch of ground cumin and oregano

1 cup cooked rice

One-half of a can of kidney beans, drained

1 cup (4 oz.) grated Monterey Jack or Pepper Jack cheese

One small can of diced green chilies

Salsa, any kind (I used Frontera brand double-roasted tomato salsa)
In a skillet, heat oil and sauté onion and garlic until soft and onions are slightly translucent, about 5 minutes. Slide stem ends from peppers and remove seeds. Chop tops and add to skillet and sauté another 3-5 minutes.

Stir in cumin, oregano, rice, beans and chilies.

Let cool for about five minutes while preheating the oven to 350 degrees. Stuff peppers with rice mixture.

Place side by side in a shallow casserole dish. Top liberally with salsa and bake for 35-40 minutes.

NOTE: This recipe always makes PLENTY of stuffing, so just put the remainder in a Pyrex dish, top it with salsa and cook it along side the peppers. You can also parboil the peppers for five minutes prior to stuffing, which makes the peppers a little softer, but be sure to drain and cool before stuffing so you don’t burn your fingertips!

VARIATIONS: Kick up the spice factor by adding a dash or two of chili powder (or even a dash of pepper sauce, like Tobasco) with the rest of the spices. You can also make this a meat-lovers recipe by adding chorizo sausage (one link, casing removed and meat crumbled into the pan) or ground/chicken/turkey with the onion and garlic… just give it a few extra minutes to cook thoroughly and to drain the fat before adding the rest of the ingredients. If you add meat, just remember there will be a lot more stuffing and you may need an extra pepper or two.
Serve with clips and salsa, the rest of the kidney beans and chilies (heated through in the microwave and topped with a spritz of lime juice).

Recipe: Greek Stuffed Peppers

I’m always looking for good vegetarian or seafood dishes to prepare, especially during Fridays in Lent. I just came across a good one and thought I’d share. I found this on Eating Well online. The ingredients are pretty simple and there’s nothing complicated about the preparation.  

4 servings 

Ingredients:

-          4 yellow orange, yellow, and/or red bell peppers

-          ½ cup whole wheat orzo

-          1 15-oz. can chickpeas, rinsed

-          1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

-          1 medium onion, chopped

-          6 oz. baby spinach, chopped

-          1 tbsp chopped fresh oregano, or 1 tsp dried

-          ¾ cup crumbled feta cheese

-          ¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped

-          1 tbsp sherry vinegar, or red-wine vinegar

-          ¼ tsp salt

Start by cutting the peppers in half – lengthwise through the stem. Remove all the seeds and membrane so the inside is completely clear. 

Arrange them cut-side down in a microwave-safe dish with about ½ inch of water in the bottom. Microwave until the peppers are soft, about 7-9 minutes. Let them cool slightly, drain them and set aside. (Of note, I cut the recipe in half, so I only did two peppers.)   

While you’re waiting for those in the microwave, bring a large saucepan of water to a boil and add your orzo. Let it cook for about 8-10 minutes. Drain and rinse in cold water.

When the orzo and peppers are underway, mash the chickpeas until they make a chunky paste, making sure to leave some of the chickpeas whole.

Next, heat your oil in a skillet over medium heat and add your onions. Of course, I omitted this step since I hate onions; however, I did add minced garlic and crushed red pepper at this point. The recipe didn’t call for either of these, but I would highly recommend adding both of them – especially the garlic. I put garlic in just about everything I cook, and it definitely makes sense in this dish. After a couple minutes, add the chopped spinach and oregano and let it cook until the spinach wilts. Stir in the cooked orzo, chickpeas, ½ cup feta (save the rest for the end), sundried tomatoes, vinegar and salt. Cook for about 1 minute until it’s all heated through. Your mixture should look like this:

Grab your peppers and spoon the mixture into each one. Sprinkle the rest of the feta over the top of each pepper and serve!

There are a lot of possibilities with this dish, depending on the ingredients you have on hand. If you have artichokes, you could chop those up and add them to the dish. Also, if you want to add meat, you could finely chop chicken and mix that in. Fresh herbs like basil would be a nice addition. Experiment!  

This was delicious, easy, versatile and healthy! Enjoy!

~ Kris