ALL-IN-ONE DINNER: Stuffed Bell Peppers

With red bell peppers, mushrooms, and ground beef in the fridge, I started brainstorming what I could make for dinner-- stuffed bell peppers. I looked through some recipes online and came to this one, but I made some substitutions/additions based on what I had on hand. I didn't have diced tomatoes, but I did have mushrooms to add to the rice and meat mixture (and a little tomato paste to give it the desired flavor). I wanted to use up my shallots, so I substituted those for the white onion, sautéing them first with the garlic and mushrooms with a bit of red pepper flakes. To get a little green into the dinner, I added fresh spinach. Last but not least, I only had two peppers, so I put the rest of the stuffing into little ramekins to be enjoyed later.

The stuffed peppers made for a healthy, flavorful take on comfort food with minimal clean up. Next time I'll make more of the ketchup topping to have on the side!

DAD’S STUFFED BELL PEPPERS
from SimplyRecipes.com, personal adaptations noted
serves 4-6

Ingredients

• 4 bell peppers, any color
• Salt
• 5 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and chopped I substituted shallots
• 1 clove of garlic, peeled and chopped
• 1 lb of lean ground beef
• 1 1/2 cup of cooked rice
• 1 cup chopped tomatoes, fresh or canned (if using can, drain of excess liquid first) I added some tomato paste instead of chopped tomatoes
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon of dried oregano
• Fresh ground pepper
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/2 tsp of Worcestershire Sauce
• Dash of Tabasco sauce
• I added sautéed mushrooms, a pinch of red pepper flakes, and fresh spinach

Method

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Meanwhile, cut top off peppers 1 inch from the stem end, and remove seeds. Add several generous pinches of salt to boiling water, then add peppers and boil, using a spoon to keep peppers completely submerged, until brilliant green (or red if red peppers) and their flesh slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Drain, set aside to cool.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Heat 4 tbsp of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring often, until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook a minute more. Remove skillet from heat, add meat, rice, tomatoes, and oregano, and season generously with salt and pepper. Mix well. (You may find it easier to put the ingredients at this point into a large bowl and mix together with your hands.)
3. Drizzle remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil inside the peppers. Arrange the cut side of the peppers up in a baking dish, then stuff peppers with filling. Combine ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, and 1/4 cup of water in a small bowl, then spoon over filling. Add 1/4 cup of water to the baking dish. Place in oven and bake for 40-50 minutes (or longer, depending on how big the peppers are that you are stuffing), until the internal temperature of the stuffed peppers is 150-160°F.