Ree Drummond. She’s currently my new woman crush, and what might have led to this new crush? You guessed it, her stuffed peppers (and I added a little twist, obviously).
So if you didn’t know, Ree has her own show on the Food Network called “The Pioneer Woman.” She lives on a ranch, has a big family, and cooks a lot of yummy stuff…cue peppers…and let me just say, they’re amazing. I’m a religious follower of her Facebook page.
I’m new to the world of vegetables; I’m learning to love them and just shove them in my mouth with whatever else is on the plate. Alex loves vegetables. He likes essentially everything, except corn, which blows my mind. Note: this recipe has a TON of vegetables in it, and I really liked it! Really big deal!
You can find the original recipe here, if you don’t trust me, otherwise….
6 whole bell peppers (any color, but look for ones that will kinda stand up on their “feet”)
~2 tablespoons olive oil
~1 pound ground beef (or ground chuck)
salt and pepper to taste
1 whole medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 whole large zucchini, diced
4 whole Roma Tomatoes, diced
1 box parmesan flavored couscous (or rice)
2 cups Pepper Jack cheese
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (optional)
Heat the oven to 350 degrees (F).
Cut the tops off of the peppers and make sure you get all the seeds out of the “body” part. Save the tops! You’re going to cut off the little bits of bell pepper left over (set aside) and toss the stems. Place the “body” parts in an oven safe dish that holds all 6. My recent introduction to food means that I don’t have fancy oven pans and if it fits, it ships, as they say.
Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the beef, season with salt and pepper and cook. Break up the meat into fine pieces instead of chunks; remove to a plate.
Heat the rest of the olive oil in the same pan and add the onions, zucchini and garlic and cook 3-4 minutes. Add the tomatoes and bell pepper pieces and cook until everything is warm, then stir in the beef and pepper jack cheese.
Note: you can switch the zucchini and bell pepper pieces depending on how firm/soft you like your veggies. I prefer softer zucchini and firmer bell pepper but that’s just me. Alex has no preference on this matter (I asked).
Fill up the pepper “bodies” with the beef-veggie mixture and top with Parmesan cheese, place in your oven-safe pan and fill the pan with water to about halfway up the pepper. Cook for about 10-15 minutes for melty cheese and warm pepper bodies (for reheating the next day, use the oven at the same temperature for about 35-40 minutes). Serve over the couscous (follow the directions on the box for cooking or you can substitute with rice or pasta or anything else that suits your fancy).
FUN FACTS: Ree designed this as one of those make before, cook later type of meals so here are the changes if you would prefer to do that. I made mine all in one sitting and just reheated the extras like normal leftovers the next day.
- bag the peppers after decapitating and gutting (refrigerate)
- you can box up the beef-veggie filling after it’s all mixed up (refrigerate)
- when you’re ready, stuff the peppers and cover the pan containing the water, and stuffed peppers with foil, cook for about 30 minutes covered, then uncover and cook for another 15-20 minutes.
You can get Parmesan flavored couscous from your local grocery store, we use the Near East brand.
Desperate Plates 