Savory Stuffed Peppers

Jana here with a recipe that you are going to love!  Our garden produced a huge batch of peppers in the late summer, once we finally got some rain and cooler weather. We were left with more peppers than we could eat fresh. Although we put a lot of them in the freezer to save for later cooking, we wanted to find new ways to cook them fresh as well!  My husband likes to cook also, and he came up with most of this recipe!  We worked togethe on it some, and also used this for inspiration.  If you are not a huge pepper fan, or if you have a lot of extra filling left over, I think this filling would be excellent for making burritos!

Savory Stuffed Peppers

1 pound ground beef/turkey
4 large or 6 medium bell peppers
3/4 cup cooked rice (we used brown, but white or wild rice would also be good)
1/4 cup tomato sauce
1/2 package cream cheese (4 ounces)
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 tablespoon dried onion
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cilantro
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon minced garlic
shredded cheese

1. Brown ground meet in a medium sized skillet.  After it is mostly cooked, add chili powder, dried onion, paprika, cilantro, cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, and minced garlic.  Stir to mix well, and let simmer until meat is completely browned.

2. Meanwhile, prepare the bell peppers by removing the seeds from the inside.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

3. Mix cooked rice and tomato sauce into the meat.  Cut cream cheese into small pieces, and add it to the meat mixture, stirring until it is melted and combined.

4. Pour approximately 1/2 cup water in the bottom of your baking dish.  Place peppers in dish with open sides up.  Put as much stuffing as you can in each pepper, and cover the baking dish. 

5. Bake for 35 minutes.  Top with shredded cheese.

Enjoy!