Stuffed Green Peppers

Although I am completely against anything involving a green pepper, I just had to share this recipe passed along to me from my chef friend Brandon Plotner. I substitute the peppers for tomatoes instead and they come out just the same, but with a bit of a saltier taste. I have a weird, deadly allergy to all the 'Bell' Pepper varieties so the tomatoes work great as a substitute. I have even used large, green tomatoes that didn't completely turn red, straight from my garden.

What you'll need:

6 green peppers washed & hollowed out. (save tops) (Or use red, yellow, orange, or even tomatoes if you have an allergy to green peppers)
1 Onion
1 box of Zatarain's dirty rice mix
2 pounds of ground beef
Minced garlic
Lea and Perrins thick Worcestershire sauce
Verole' Queso Mexican style melting cheese
Kraft Mexican four cheese
Oregano for garnish if desired

What to do:

After washing and hollowing out the green peppers, submerge them in cold water. Blanch over medium heat, until they become soft. Dice the tops of the peppers that you saved and your onion (These will be used to season the meat). Place your ground beef into a skillet with 2 tbsp. of butter, 4 tbsp. of Worcestershire and 1/2 tbsp. of minced garlic. Add in the green peppers and onions, stir and cook thoroughly. While your meat is cooking, make the Zatarain's dirty rice according to the directions on the box.

When the peppers are soft, the meat is cooked and the rice is done, drain the meat and mix the rice in with it. Remove the peppers from the hot water and submerge them in cold water until they cool. After they cool down, place them in a baking dish. Fill them up half way with the meat and rice mixture and then add the Kraft Mexican Four Cheese. Then top them off with the Queso Cheese.

Place the peppers in the oven on 400 degrees until the cheese is a golden brown (see picture above.)

For a different variation to this recipe see Grilled Talapia and Stuffed Tomatoes.

Enjoy!

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