Stuffed Peppers

Today was the kind of day that found me standing in front of my fridge and trying to decide what to do with anything that was fast approaching it's 'life as we know it' date.  I found half a bag of bell peppers in the bottom crisper that I had forgotten were there, and one was just beginning to get a little patch of that 'wrinkley' effect as they start the downward spiral towards the compost heap, but they were plenty fresh enough for these stuffed peppers that I decided to make with them.  I like this recipe because you can basically add any spice or flavour that you feel like and they'll usually turn out delicious.

Stuffed Peppers
makes 4-6 servings

4-6 bell peppers
1 lb ground beef
1/2 onion, chopped finely
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 can (19 fl oz) diced tomatoes
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup rice (uncooked)
1 Tbs worcestershire sauce
a few dashes of Chipotle Tabasco Sauce
1 cup grated cheese

• cut off the tops of the peppers;  remove the membranes and seeds;  sprinkle the insides of the peppers generously with salt.
• put the peppers, upright, into a baking dish and set aside.
• in a large skillet on medium to high heat, saute the onions and ground beef until all the pink has gone.
• add the salt and pepper, diced tomatoes, water, rice, worcestershire sauce and Tabasco sauce to the browned beef and mix thoroughly.
• reduce the heat, cover and simmer until the rice is tender, approximately 15-20 minutes.
• by the end of the simmering period most of the liquid should of been absorbed.
• add the grated cheese and mix until melted and combined.
• preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• spoon the beef mixture into the prepared bell pepper shells up to the top edge and pack down well.
• bake, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes until the peppers have softened slightly and the tops are browned.
• these are quite substantial on their own, especially if your peppers are large like ours were, so I just served them with some homemade garlic bread.
• I only had 4 peppers left in the fridge so I popped the remainder of the beef mixture into a container and froze it.  We'll use it either in more stuffed peppers, or even possibly as a filling for burritos.

 Stuffed Peppers ingredients

chop the tops off of your peppers and place them into a baking dish ready to be stuffed.

saute the ground beef and onion until no more pink remains.

add all the other ingredients, except the grated cheese, and combine thoroughly.

once it has simmered most of the liquid away, add the cheese and mix.

stuff the pepper shells well, and bake for 25-30 minutes.

alongside some soft garlic bread.....deeeeeelish!!!!