Two Hot Dishes!

 

Even though it wasn't Taco Tuesday, I decided to make tacos last night. I served Chip the "traditional" hard shell kind, filling made with Boca Crumbles, while I decided to do something different.  I made up a batch of the Black Bean & Corn Salad with Lime, rolled some up into a 100-Calorie Smart & Delicious Tortilla, topped with fresh Chipotle & Tomato Salsa. Wowie! This was so much better than a plain ol' taco, I ended up having another one for lunch today.



Tonight I decided to make Pretty Stuffed Peppers, second time around for this recipe. I gathered up all of my veggies & spices, got the rice cooking, then looked in the fridge for the cooked black beans. Oops. I only had about 7 ounces, about half of what the recipe called for. What to do? Hmm..how about tossing that leftover taco "meat" into the mix? Sure, what not! That's just what I did, and the result was deee-licous!

By the time Chip got home from work, it was too late to take nice photos of the finished product, so I'm gonna cheat and share some from the first time I made this dish. Let's just pretend they look exactly the same, ok? My Ormond house is so much lighter and brighter than the one down here, the photos are always so much nicer anyway. Below is my version of the recipe as I made it last time, feel free to improvise on the filling depending upon what's in your kitchen.

Pretty Stuffed Peppers

(print-friendly)

Ingredients

• 1 cup brown rice, cooked by your favorite method
• 6 medium bell peppers of your choice; I used 2 red, 2 yellow, 2 green
• 1/4 cup vegetable broth
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 15 ounces cooked black beans; if using canned, rinse and drain well
• 1 cup seeded and chopped fresh tomato*
• 8 slices Cheddar-style soy or rice cheese

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400°.  
2. Cut each bell pepper in half lengthwise.  Remove seeds and ribs.  Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil; add the pepper halves and blanch for about 4 minutes.  Drain and pat dry.
3. Heat the broth in a skillet over medium heat.  Add the onion and saute for about 3 minutes, then add chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt and black pepper.  Saute for 1 minute more.  Add the beans, rice and tomato and saute for 2 minutes.
4. Stuff bell peppers with mixture, packing them well. Top each bell pepper with a slice of cheese.  Place in an 8 x 8-inch baking dish. 
5. Bake peppers, uncovered, for about 20 minutes.  Set the oven to broil, broil peppers for 1 to 2 minutes, until the top is browned and cheese is bubbly.

*For added flavor & spice, you can substitute a can of diced tomatoes w/green chiles (such as Ro*tel) for the chopped fresh tomatoes. I found it also added some needed moisture to the mix.

Note: I'm a bit confused by the serving size of the original recipe..there are 6 peppers, which equals 12 halves, but only 8 slices of cheese. ? However, there was so much filling there's no way it could've fit into fewer peppers. I'm leaving it as is but noting the discrepancy here. I myself just used an extra slice of cheese, put 1/2 slices on some of the smaller peppers.

Nutrition Info:

• Calories:425
• Fat: 8.5
• Protein: 21.2
• Carbohydrate: 69.1
• Sugar 10.7
• Fiber 15.6
• Sodium 787

I think it's time for a nice cup of tea and a book. I haven't been sleeping well, blaming the little bit of stress I've been under, hoping a cup of Sleepytime will do the trick.

Have a beauty-full evening,

Michele