SOUTHWEST STUFFED PEPPERS

Filed under Main Dishes

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 pound lean ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon taco seasoning
2 cups cooked rice
4-6 red bell peppers
1 (15 oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
1 (10 oz.) can diced tomatoes and green chilies
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cut the peppers in half lengthwise and remove seeds and ribs.  Coat the pepper halves inside and out with about 1 tablespoon of the olive oil.  Place into a lightly greased baking dish.  In a large saute pan over medium high heat, saute the onion and garlic in remaining olive oil until soft.  Reduce heat to medium and add ground beef; cook until beef is no longer pink .  Stir in taco seasoning.  Add diced tomato and green chilies, corn, beans and sour cream.  Stir and cook until heated through. Remove from heat and stir in cooked rice and cilantro.

Generously fill peppers with meat and rice mixture.  Cover and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until peppers are just tender.  Remove from oven and sprinkle with shredded cheese.  Return to oven, uncovered, for 5-10 minutes more, until cheese is melted and peppers are tender.  Garnish with additional cheese, cilantro, avocado or sour cream, if desired.

Let's Dish
I admit, when I was a kid, stuffed peppers were not something I wanted to see on the dinner table. But now that my tastes have matured, I love them! There are so many varieties of filling you can use to stuff bell peppers, but this slightly spicy, southwest version is our family's favorite. This does make a lot of filling. If you're only using 4 peppers, you might need to freeze half of the filling for another time, or use it the next day for burritos. You can, of course, change the ground beef for ground turkey, or use green peppers in place of red. You could even skip the meat and add more rice for a vegetarian version.  Just a note: if you like a really soft pepper, you might want to cook your peppers for 15 minutes or so before you stuff them.  I like a crisp pepper, so I stuff mine uncooked and keep things on the shorter end of the cooking time.

Who Dished It Up First
This is an original recipe.