Many times when my farm box arrives, there is a little bag of sweet peppers and I think, what will I do with all of these peppers? I’ll chop a few up and put them in a salad, or I sauté them in a dish, but I have never actually designed a meal around them. So, I decided that today was the day.
I must admit that my daughter isn’t fond of stuffed peppers. That might be what has dissuaded me thus far. Well, I discovered tonight, she actually isn’t fond of the way I usually steam them to make sure they are soft. Tonight, I didn’t steam these peppers and they are crisp tender and she actually said she enjoyed them! Victory! Also, due to finely chopping and shredding the veggies, there was little evidence that they were full of carrots, bell peppers and onions along with the ground beef and cheese. Another bonus…added nutritional value!
Ingredients
10-12 small sweet peppers whole, with stems and seeds removed
¾ lb of ground beef
½ cup shredded carrots
½ cup chopped bell pepper
¾ cup finely chopped onion
2 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon chipotle w/adobo
½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon garlic
2 tablespoons dried cilantro (or 4T of fresh cilantro)
1 teaspoon chili powder
14 ounce can diced tomatoes
14 ounce can red enchilada sauce
Instructions
While the oven is preheating to 350 degrees, prepare the filling.
Chop the onions (mine were chopped due to produce prep Tuesday!), chop the bell peppers (also chopped from last week’s farm box and prepped ahead of time!), and shred the carrots.
Heat your pan and drizzle olive oil in the bottom. Add the ground beef and veggies and begin sauteing the veggies and browning the ground beef. When you add them, you should hear a sizzle. While it is cooking add the spices and the chili with adobo sauce and stir.
Once the mixture is fully cooked, mix in 1 1/2 cups of the cheese and stir until melted. Now, remember the peppers I prepped earlier this week? It is their time to be the star of the show!
Time to stuff them!
This looks yummy, but wait, there is more!
Top with the diced tomatoes, then cover the tomatoes with the enchilada sauce. Next comes the rest of the cheese.
Place these yummy looking peppers into the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Then, crank up the heat to 400 degrees for 10 minutes to finish them off. Here is what they look like when they come out!
All ready to eat!
If you like your peppers on the softer side, you can steam the peppers for 10 minutes before stuffing them. But, if you are like my daughter, do it just as described and you will finally enjoy stuffed peppers!
Yummy, Diane! I never thought of this, but kind of like a low cal chile relleno!
Thank you Lauren! Funny you would say that, but that was exactly what I was thinking of and then, I came up with this idea and made this instead.
Totally going to try this!! Love it! Thanks for the detailed how to!
I am so glad to hear that! Enjoy!