Stuffed Peppers Ole’: A Mexican twist to an old favorite.

Stuffed Peppers Ole'

Arthur has been after me for years to make stuffed bell peppers. My mom never made them. She doesn’t care for rice, so anything made with rice as a main component was never created in her kitchen.

Every Wednesday there is a farmers market where Arthur works and he brings home the most gorgeous produce. This week, he brought home peppers and asked if I would give stuffed peppers a go. So, after Googling and looking over a number of recipes, I created this Mexican favor version.

Mexican flavor profiles are vital in my household. We lived in New Mexico for over 7 years, my husband is a Texan and well, we just love all types of Mexican food. So, it was quite easy to substitute this and that and create a combination that would satisfy my family’s tastes in cuisine. I substituted ground beef for sausage; regular diced tomatoes for Rotel tomatoes; and added a little green chile, chili powder, chile flakes, cilantro flakes and cayenne pepper and before you know it you have created a new family favorite.

Though my photos show I made three stuffed peppers, I had enough stuffing to do four; I just didn’t have a fourth pepper available to stuff. : )

Stuffed Peppers Ole’

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil a baking dish that will hold the peppers.
Serves 4-6, depending on the size of peppers you stuff

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cooked rice (white, brown, doesn’t matter)
• 1 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1 cup chopped red bell pepper (or whatever color you wish)
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 4 bell peppers, single serving size, tops off, and seeded
• 1/2 to a whole roll of breakfast sausage (depends on how big your peppers are and how much you have to fill)
• 1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 can diced Rotel tomatoes
• 1 jar Salsa Verde (or regular salsa)
• to taste; black pepper, garlic powder, salt, chili powder, chili flakes, cayenne pepper.

Instructions:

1. Cook rice according to package instructions. Set aside to cool.
2. In a skillet saute onions, garlic and chopped peppers until the onions are clear. 
3. Add sausage and scramble into small pieces as it cooks.
4. When sausage has browned, add half the rice and the can of diced Rotel tomatoes with their juice. Mix well.
5. Season this mixture to your liking, making them as spicy as you wish. If you do not want Rotel tomato flavor, you can use any type of diced tomato.
6. If it doesn’t appear to be enough filling for all the bell peppers you plan to bake, add more rice to the mixture.
7. Arrange stuffed peppers in your baking dish. 
8. Pour salsa on top
9. Bake uncovered for 35-45 minutes, or until your main bell pepper is cooked through and soft.
10. Serve with salad, garlic bread and other vegetables. I served ours with ranch style beans and jalapeno cornbread...and sweet tea.

Peppers ready for stuffing.

Sausage, onions, garlic and peppers.

Rice added to sausage and peppers mixture

Peppers stuffed and ready for topping.

Salsa Verde added and headed to the oven.

Stuffed Peppers Ole’ with Ranch Style Beans

The peppers I used were about the size of a coffee cup; not huge. Arthur loved them, by the way! And if you are wondering why I used a metal loaf pan...well...since I only had three, all may baking dishes were too big, and I was afraid they might fall over while they cooked. So I crushed the sides together on the foil pan so that wouldn’t happen.

If I had a garden, this would have been the perfect time to make that tomato/cucumber/onion salad! Yum!

Give this a try, it’s pretty easy and has a lot of flavor! Thanks for reading!!

As the mixing bowl turns,

Donna : - )