July 18, 2008

Reader Recipe: Stuffed Peppers

[Posted by Crabby]


This awesome looking Stuffed Bell Pepper recipe comes courtesy of Susan over at Nutrition, Fitness, Life.

She even included this picture, and if you're not hungry yet? Just hang on a second...



How 'bout now?

Anyway, rather than clutter up her post with a bunch of tedious musings on Stuffed Bell Peppers (and believe me I could--I have thoughts and opinions about EVERYTHING, including stuffed bell peppers) I'll turn it directly over to her. Thanks Susan! --Crabby



Hello everyone, and a big thank you to Crabby and Merry for inviting me as a guest on their blog! (I did take off my shoes.) I'm very honored, and I have to say that the cupcakes look even bigger from up here!

But now on to the recipe (it doesn't involve cupcakes)...

I concocted this version of the stuffed pepper while playing in the kitchen one day and was pleased with the results. I used brown rice for a healthier twist and chose lean, ground sirloin. Tofu would work as a replacement for the meat, though. You could also replace the tomato sauce with chopped tomatoes, which I bet would taste heavenly if fresh from the garden!

This recipe serves 6*, so please feel free to adjust the recipe if cooking for fewer people. Then again, these make for a good lunch the next day. :)

  • 3 bell peppers (green, red, yellow… any color will do)

  • 1 cup water

  • ½ cup uncooked brown rice

  • ¼ tsp salt

  • ½ tsp olive oil or nonstick cooking spray

  • 1 medium yellow onion, chopped

  • 1 pound ground sirloin or ground turkey

  • 1 cup corn (frozen works great)

  • 1 clove garlic, finely chopped

  • 2 Tbs Worcestershire sauce

  • 1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce

  • 2 tsp Italian seasoning

  • Salt and pepper to taste

  • 1 cup shredded low-fat cheese (any flavor)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 C).

Combine water, rice, and ¼ tsp salt in saucepan. Cover, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a low simmer. Cook until rice has absorbed the water and is tender – about 30 minutes.

As rice is cooking:
Rinse peppers and cut in half vertically, or cut just the top off. Remove the stem, seeds, and the membranes inside the peppers. Set aside.

In a large pan/skillet over medium heat, add oil or spray pan with nonstick cooking spray. Add chopped onions, and cook just until slightly tender, about 4 minutes. Remove onions to a dish, and set aside.

Place the ground meat in that same pan and cook until evenly browned. Drain fat.**

Add onions, corn, garlic, Worcestershire, tomato sauce, and seasonings to meat. Cook on medium-low heat. Add rice and gently combine. Turn heat to very low.

Fill large pot with warm water that has been salted and bring to a boil. Immerse peppers in water for 2 minutes and remove from water. Set peppers in a large baking dish with hollowed side up.

Fill each pepper with meat and rice mixture. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top. Any leftover mixture can be stored in a container and used with salsa as a topping for tortilla chips!

Bake in oven for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and lightly golden brown.

Let cool for a few minutes and dig in!

*Cutting just the tops of each pepper will provide a pretty dish for the stuffing and result in one, hearty serving. You can increase the number of peppers from 3 to 4 if using this method.

**I like to pour off any grease from meat into a used container, such as an old pasta sauce jar. Then I wipe off the side of the pan with a paper towel. Be careful about draining grease directly into your sink as the grease can harden and clog the drain. And please keep in mind that hot grease can cause nasty burns! Be careful not to spill any on yourself!

25 comments:

  1. dang. LOVE susan.
    dont love the peppers.

    Methinks this wouldnt work as well inside a muffin?

    cake?

    pumpkin?!

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  2. Those peppers definitely do look stuffed. Wow.

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  3. These peppers look delicious! I might just have to try this recipe this weekend.

    Did I read somewhere that today is Lobster's birthday? Happy birthday Lobster!

    Missy

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  4. Thanks for the recipe...love me some peppers.

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  5. This looks fabulous! Unfortunately, hubby doesn't like peppers...sigh.

    And Happy Birthday to the Lobster!

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  6. I just sat here for 15 minutes trying to write a haiku about stuffed peppers.

    Clearly I should drink more coffee before I try to comment on today's post.

    sigh.

    (they do look super good though!)

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  7. Stuffed peppers? Bring 'em round to my place any day when I've got the BBQ fired up.

    Open invitation .....

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  8. Nom. Nom. Nom.
    Now I want stuffed peppers.
    For breakfast.

    And a very Happy Birthday to the Lobster.

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  9. Stuffed peppers ARE better the next day--theories?

    Our version was drastically simplified by my mother's allergies to rice and onion.

    Mary Anne in Kentucky

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  10. Thanks again, Crabby for having me over! Nice place, by the way.

    MizFit, I feel the love for you too, so yes, you can put the stuffing inside a cake or a pumpkin. ;) (Although a pumpkin might be pretty good.)
    Bag Lady, How about a zucchini? That could work as a decent 'bowl.' :)
    Party at David's, woo-hoo!

    But I'm pretty full right now. Time for a nap.

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  11. I could totally eat that for breakfast, say right now. Would go beautifully with a nf skim latte.

    p.s. I heart haikus, Jill and Leah. Sometimes I communicate only in haiku form.

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  12. YUM.

    YUM.

    I am SO trying this recipe asap!

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  13. Stuffed peppers? Tasty.
    Haikus and good food play nice.
    Food for thought and mouth.


    Ugh.
    Poem needs work.
    Merry needs work too. Or at least paycheck.

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  14. Tasty! Those peppers.....I am always looking for pepper recipes!

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  15. I'm sure its delicious but I refuse to eat something called a Stuffed Pepper. Leave the peppers alone. It might taste great but it looks repulsive.

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  16. I'm not a big fan of cooked peppers, but stuffed peppers are quite tasty, thanks Susan!

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  17. Gorgeous! I eat nightshades like nobody's business. I like the recipe, though I tend to leave the rice out of mine and add a little more onion (and garlic, always more garlic).

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  18. This looks yummy! I want to try this without the meat, but I bet mushrooms would be delish! ♥ so many possibilities are running through my head

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  19. I LOVE stuffed peppers, but nobody else in the house likes peppers. I, on the other hand, have been known to eat a pepper as a snack (like an apple).

    This recipe sounds fabulous and I just happen to have some peppers handy. I'll have to scale it way back for just me, but I'm worth the effort I think ;-).

    I don't have any ground turkey or beef at the moment, but I suspect that a crumbled Morning Star Farms Griller might be yummy in this.

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  20. man, we have green peppers in our garden....will have to try! YUM YUM!

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  21. I have to confess too...I ignored the warnings too, I couldn't resist their plum red goodness..haha. I seriously think there for a week during it, I had a Soy Bacon & tomato sandwich everyday for lunch...then I got burnt out. Tomatoes oh how I love you, I risked everything for you.

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  22. oh my god. shopping trip today will totally include the ingredients for this. It looks awesome!!

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  23. Tried the recipe. It's great. Will make this again.
    Atlanta, GA

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  24. I made this the other night (I realize this post is from 3 years ago but!) it was great! I did add about 3/4 cup of black beans and the sausage was italian but it turned out very nicely. Please be warned though, the stuffing FAR outweighed the 3 huge peppers I picked. I would say get 6 medium sized peppers and fill them to the brim, and blanch more than 2 mins. They were still a little too crunchy for my husband and I, but nothing to complain too much about. The next day I used the stuffing to make a burrito sort of thing, delicious! Thanks for the recipe...even if it is forever after...

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  25. I tried this recipe the other night and it turned out very well! With the small exceptions of adding 3/4 cup of black beans and changing the meat to italian sausage, I did everything else the same. I must warn that the filling far exceeded the capacity of the 3 huge peppers I picked. I would say pick 6 medium size peppers, and blanch for more than 2 mins. They were a tiny bit too crunchy for my husband and me. But overall, I was proud how beautiful they looked, and they made a great filling for a burrito I made the next day. We still have leftover filling. Thanks for the recipe...even if it is 3 years later...lol

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Thanks for commenting, Cranky Fitness readers are the BEST!

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