Thursday, July 19, 2012

I'm a pepper, He's a pepper

I had an unfair bias against stuffed peppers and I am happy to report that we are no longer prejudiced to the delicious stuffed pepper.  I’m kinda picky on red sauce and not a big fan of sloppy/messy food, so this is perfect for us.  You can certainly switch out the filling with quinoa, feta cheese, mushrooms or other vegetables.  We have tried it with sausage and chicken, but prefer the grass fed ground beef.  We eat these at least once a week in our house. 

Stuffed Green Peppers with Brown Rice, Ground Beef, and Parmesan
(Makes 4 large stuffed green peppers)
Dinner is Served!

1 cup dry long-grain brown rice
4 large green bell peppers, cap end cut off and diced, and seeds removed.  Look for ones with 4 nubs at the bottom, they are easier to stuff
4 red/orange/yellow or green peppers

2 large onion, diced
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 lb. grass found ground beef
3 cloves of garlic pressed

½ piece of fresh Ginger shredded
1 tbsp. Chili powder
1 tbsp. Paprika
1 tbsp. Cumin
sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese





Sirachi chili sauce to taste

Start by cooking one cup of long-grain brown rice.  Brown rice is so much better for you than bleached white rice which removes many of the vitamins, fiber and iron.  Cooking brown rice usually takes close to an hour so I get this going before I cut all the other vegetables.  Just follow the directions on the package for cooking times.

Brown the ground beef and drain off the fat.   

 Cut off the stem and remove the seeds from the green peppers.  Make sure the hole is big enough to stuff.  Stand up the peppers in a baking dish. 

Remove the stems & seeds from the remaining peppers.  You can use any color, I like red, but I usually grab whatever is on sale.  Chop up the peppers & onions. 

We use a wok, but if you don’t have one you can use a big skillet.  Pour in the olive oil cook the onions on medium for about 5 minutes until they start to carmelize.  Add the peppers and all of the seasonings.  Cook for about 15 minutes until the peppers start to soften. 

Once you start using actual ginger, garlic and real Parmesan cheese (not the powdered stuff in the green can!) you won't go back to dried herbs and seasoning again.  I have a mini hand grater that I use to grate the ginger.  Change the amounts of each of the seasonings to suit your palette. 

Remove from heat and add the ground beef & rice.  Mix well.  Stuff in hollowed out green peppers, push the stuffing down with the spoon so the peppers are tightly stuffed.  If you have any stuffing left just bake it in a ramekin and enjoy.  Bake in 400 degree oven for 30 minutes. 

I grate my ginger with one of these
After 30 minutes top with shredded Parmesan cheese and put back in the oven to melt the cheese, about 5 minutes. 





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