Stuffed peppers

Stuffed peppers have become known as my signature dish among certain people. I made them once, my boyfriend fell in love and shared them with his family, who also loved them. Through trial and error, I have perfected the recipe and learned that shortcuts are usually not worth sacrificing taste! The typical stuffed pepper is made with a green bell pepper and stuffed with a combination of meat, rice, and spices. I like using the red ones so much better because they are sweeter. As always, there is plenty of room for experimentation, and they can easily be made vegetarian. I made some yellow ones stuffed with a combination of quinoa, carrots, brown sugar, celery and raisins that were quite delicious. However, this is "the" recipe for my famous peppers. Perhaps I shouldn't share, but they are so good I feel everyone should have a chance to make and try them!

The most recent batch I made was a dozen for myself and my boyfriend's family. If you are only making 2 or 4, the recipe can easily be pared down, just cut amounts by 1/4 or whatever you need.

Ingredients:

12 red bell peppers (ok, 2 were yellow)

~1.5 pounds ground beef

~2 cups rice

2 cups chicken broth or 2 bouillon cubes

1 packet onion soup mix

1 large can (24 oz?) tomato sauce or 3-4 smaller ones

Nature's Seasons

Step 1: Boil the rice in the chicken broth. This gives the rice extra flavor and saltiness.

Step 2: Brown the ground beef. Put it in a pan and cook over medium heat until there is no more pink. Drain the excess grease.

Step 3: In a large bowl, mix the cooked meat, the cooked rice, the seasonings and the sauce. (Honestly, I could just eat this mixture itself with a spoon!)

Step 4: Cut the tops off the peppers and pull out the white rinds and seeds.

Step 5: Stuff the mixture into the peppers.

Step 6: Bake at 350 for at least 1 hour. Be sure to add some water to the pan so they don't dry out or burn. You can rinse the tomato sauce can and use that for extra flavor. Depending on how tender you want your peppers to be, you can leave them in a little longer or shorter. You can also add some shredded cheese on top during the last 5-10 minutes of baking. You will know they are ready when the skin is soft to the touch and wrinkled, and the tops are nicely browned. You can also cook these on high in a crock pot for 1-2 hours, they will just not develop the crispy brown top. Enjoy!





They also reheat great for lunch or dinner the next day!