Stuffed Peppers
Quick, delicious, and freezer-friendly.
If your house is anything like mine, it's a complete and total zoo by the time dinner rolls around.
Out toddler is yelling. Not angrily. Just yelling. Because...that's what toddlers do?
The dogs are wildly barking. At nothing. Again.
And my husband and I are tapped out for the day.
Making dinner at times like this can feel like an insurmountable task.
That's why we lean on easy-peasy recipes like this one.
We've loved it since our pre-kiddo days and now we appreciate it even more. :)
Recipe
Ingredients:
Carrots, grated/shredded - 1
Onions, minced - 1/2
Garlic, minced - 3 cloves
Red cabbage, shredded - 1/2 cup
Ground beef - 1 lb
Cayenne - 1 tsp
Cumin - 1 tsp
Oregano - 1 tsp
Tomatoes, diced - 2
Bell Peppers, cut in half and deseeded - 2
Optional:
Rice/ quinoa - 2 cups cooked
Toppings (see Note #3)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Melt cooking oil in a skillet and bring to a medium-high temp.
Sauté the onion and garlic for about 1-2 minutes, until fragrant.
Add the carrots and cabbage to the mix and sauté for another 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add the ground beef and cooked until browned. (5-6 minutes).
Add the cayenne, cumin, oregano, and chopped tomato and stir all together until mixed well.
Split the ground beef/veggie mixture evenly among the bell pepper halves and place them on a baking sheet.
Bake the stuffed bell peppers for approximately 15 minutes.
Top with whatever your heart desires and serve with a side of rice or quinoa.
Notes
1)We prefer using a food processor to mince up the carrots, onions, and cabbage really well. It just saves so much time.
2) If you've got some extra veggies hanging out, this is a great way to use them up. We've used broccoli, cauliflower, summer squash, and hot peppers in ours before - make it your own!
3) Topping Ideas - scallions, shredded cheese, fresh tomato, guacamole, salsa
4) These make a GREAT freezer meal. You can either freeze JUST the stuffing mix and bake into fresh bell peppers or freeze the actual stuffed peppers themselves. Do note that if you freeze the stuffed peppers, the bell peppers will have a softer consistency after thawing - we don't mind, especially for the convenience it affords, but this is definitely a personal preference.