Last night we had some friends over for dinner, and I made my most favorite dish – stuffed peppers!
It is a fun, easy, and pretty dish to serve to guests. I like mine a little on the spicy side, so I kicked them up with some spices, but you could omit them if you like your food on the milder side.
There were 4 of us for dinner, but I made an extra pepper just in case someone was a little hungrier. Turns out, it was a good idea I did!
We started with some chips and salsa to get us in the mood while I cooked.
And, drank some wine of course!
Which was from Spain…
…and delicious!
One of our Christmas gifts this year was a rice cooker from my brother and sister-in-law. This was only our second time using it, but it did not disappoint! This cooker is definitely idiot proof and cooks the best rice ever! I put 2 cups of rinsed brown rice into the cooker, filled it to the #2 line (for the 2 cups of rice) with water, closed the lid and pressed start. One hour and 30 minutes later, my rice was cooked to perfection!
While our rice was cooking, and our guests were enjoying their chips, I got all of our ingredients ready to cook.
I started with 5 peppers.
We like to use a variety of colors to up the wow factor 
.
and cut the tops off of each one.
I chopped up those tops to add to the filling once ready.
Also in the mix were onions, garlic and spinach.
I added some olive oil to a medium sized saute pan over medium heat until hot. I chopped the onion and garlic and added them to the pan. They sizzled as the cooked. Unfortunately, my camera decided to take fuzzy pictures of the steps, so I didn’t include them here…oh well, I think you get the idea.
After a few minutes, I added the peppers, some paprika, essence (which is a blend of salt, pepper, garlic and chile powder), and salsa and cooked until done.
By this time, my rice cooker was singing to me that it was done (no, really – it plays a song to tell you it is done)! So, I added 2 cups of rice along with the spinach and mixed everything together until the spinach was wilted, a few minutes. One cup of mexican cheese was added as well.
Viola!
At this point, I filled the empty peppers with the rice mixture, topped them wich mexican taco cheese, and placed them in my preheated oven (at 375°F). Cook the peppers for about 10 minutes until the cheese is melted, and the peppers are tender. (Tip – I precooked my peppers while I was preparing the rice mixture to get them a little more tender.)
Once done, I pop the peppers under the broiler for 1-2 minutes until the cheese gets browned and bubbly.
You can make this your own recipe and add any kind of veggies you want to the mix. In the past, we have added corn, peas and broccoli.
Alongside the stuffed peppers, I served warm crusty bread. I took this whole wheat bread, sliced it, brushed each slice with a little olive oil and sprinkled it with italian seasoning.
Wrap in tinfoil, and place in the oven while you cook your peppers. It will come out warm, crusty and delicious!
Our meal was a thumbs up from all 4 of us! Give it a try sometime, you won’t be dissappointed!
Spicy Stuffed Peppers
Serves 5-6
Ingredients:
- 2 cups brown rice (any other grain will work as well)
- 6 medium peppers (any color)
- 1 medium onion
- 4-5 cloves garlic
- 1 package baby spinach
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1-2 tablespoons essence, depending on spiciness!
- 1/2 cup medium salsa (or hot, or mild…)
- 1 cup cheese, any you like!
- salt & pepper to taste
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Cook 2 cups of brown rice according to package instructions. If you have a rice cooker, definitely use it!
- While the rice is cooking, prepare your vegetables and if desired, place peppers in the oven for a few minutes to pre-cook (I find that this makes the peppers more tender).
- Wash peppers, and cut tops off of each. Chop up tops. Set peppers aside.
- Chop onion and garlic.
- Add olive oil to a medium saute pan over medium heat. Once heated, add onion, garlic and a pinch of salt. Cook until onions are tender.
- Add the chopped pepper tops, paprika and essence (or other spices). Cook until mixed and peppers are a little tender.
- Once rice is cooked, add it to the saute pan mixture. Also add salsa and spinach. Mix and cook until the spinach is wilted.
- Mix in 1 cup of cheese.
- Spoon rice mixture into the peppers and top with a little cheese.
- Place in a baking dish and bake for 10 minutes, until peppers are tender and cheese is melted.
- Place under broiler for 1-2 minutes to brown the cheese.
- Serve immediately with warm crusty bread.
- Enjoy!
If you have any other fabulous stuffed pepper recipes, please pass them my way! I am constantly making varieties of this recipe, because we love them so much! I have been told to try them with poblanos…maybe next time!
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