Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Stuffed Bell Peppers


Do you ever get tired of the same ol' stuffing, night after night after night? Although I think you could stuff a bell pepper with just about anything and it would be good, tonight I stuffed ours with a ground pork/ground beef mixture and used a wild rice mix instead of white rice. If there were no children around here I would have used a spicy ground pork, but since I was bracing myself for the mutiny that has become a dinner ritual, I just used mild. In the past I have used this recipe Dad's Stuffed Bell Peppers and substituted leftover baked chicken for the ground beef; it was a light, yet filling dish. Tonight I switched things up again because you should never get bored with your stuffer.


Stuffed Bell Peppers


4 large peppers, halved lengthwise and insides removed

1/2 pound ground pork, mild or spicy
3/4 pound ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 cup diced tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 cup lite sour cream
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups cooked wild rice mix (You can substitute brown rice. I added a teaspoon of beef
bouillon granules to the rice water)
1/2 cup ketchup
2 shakes Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup water

1. Saute pork, beef, onion and garlic until meat is cooked and onions are transparent. Add salt, pepper and garlic powder. Drain fat.

2. Add rice, tomatoes, oregano, sour cream and cheese. Mix well. Stuff into peppers.

3. Combine ketchup, Worcestershire and water in small bowl. Mix and pour over filled peppers.

4. Place peppers in oven pan and add about 1/4 cup of water to the baking dish, cover dish with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 5 -10 more minutes.

Notes: Since the wild rice mix doesn't absorb juices as easily as white rice, if you can make the filling the night before the flavors have a better chance of blending. I wonder if you could put the filling ingredients in the crock pot in the morning and stuff the peppers right before dinner? Hummm? Maybe next time.


Above, peppers begging to be stuffed.


This is my way of trying to stop the revolt before it begins. Since I do not believe in fixing kids their own separate "kid meal", this is my way of... well... it's my way of... of fixing them their own separate meal without admitting it! They get stuffed peppers minus the peppers and minus the onions plus cheese on top. And I think I will stick to my original plan and say that I will NOT fix my kids their own separate meals from now on because as doctored-up as their version was, they still pitched fits! So my first platform was correct: Never fix kids their own special kid-meal.

Here are a few other pepper recipes you may like to try:
Paula Deen's Stuffed Red Peppers (comes with a side of butter and a Krispy Kreme glaze)

Sweet Stuffed Bell Pepper Soup

Smoke Roasted Stuffed Bell Peppers

1 comment:

Lesley said...

These look so good, Kristy. I can't wait to try them!