Southwest Stuffed Peppers

Even though it's still August, here in Minnesota  you can already feel the nip of fall in the air. I absolutely love this time of year, when mother nature gives slight clues that fall is coming with  a random pinkish or yellow leaf in the trees, and it's time to start carrying a coat with you every day just in case it gets chilly out. It also means that the oven is fair game for dinner again, since it warms up the house too much on many the hot days of summer.

One of the sad realities of life is that many delicious baked goods aren't always the best for you. Almost as disappointing as  the realization that there is no Santa, sugar and fat are best when indulged in in moderation, and  as much as we may all want a dessert with every meal, sometimes healthier fare needs to grace our recipe boxes and ovens from time to time too.

I know I say this a lot, but this is truly one of my all-time favorite recipes, and my friends and family can back me  up on this. It's a take on the traditional American dish of stuffed peppers, and the way I've usually been served this, it's usually got ground pork or beef cooked with onions, tomatos, green peppers and rice. 

True, It's a pretty darn tasty dinner, but the Southwest Stuffed pepper takes that idea and makes it a little funkier. It takes the old-fashioned stuffed pepper and gives it a  a Tex-Mex spin. I adapted this recipe from the good old tried and true Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, and it was one of the first things I learned to make when I was about 16 years old, and have made it every month since then. I bring this dish to many a dinner- night and potluck, and have gotten many a request for the recipe, so I figured this would be a good one to share!

Southwest Stuffed Peppers
- 4 large sweet green peppers
-1 15 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup corn
-1 chopped onion
-1  can of tomatoes or 1 medium fresh, diced
-1 cup of cooked long grain rice
- 1 chopped jalapeno pepper ( you can use less if you're afraid of the heat, or use two if you really want to breathe fire!)
-1/2 t. salt
-2 T chopped fresh cilantro
-1 T parsley
-1 t. cumin
-1 t. chili powder
- 3/4 cup monterey jack or cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions:
Fill a large pot with salted water and boil. Cut tops from peppers and chop whats left up to add to the filling. Blanche ( steam for about a minute in the boiling water) the peppers in the boiling water, remove and let dry on a paper towel. In a medium saucepan, cook the onions and pepper tops in olive oil until tender, about ten minutes. Add beans, jalapenos,corn, tomatoes, rice, and herbs. Saute for 5-7 minutes. Mix half the cheese with the mixture, spoon it into the upright peppers in a glass baking dish. Cover with tinfoil and bake in an oven at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes. During the last five minutes,sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Serve with salsa and sour cream.

Here's what the peppers look like in the baking pan, and that's steam rising up off them in anticipation of the amazing filling they're about to get  put in them! Setting the peppers upright like this is great for means of presentation and convenience if you want to serve these as a main course, but if you'd prefer them smaller as a side dish, you can cut the peppers in half and have smaller servings.

 Here they are in assembled form.  I use brown rice to up the healthy ante and add some whole-grain to this, but there are about 3 servings of veggies in these, as well as a ton of protein, vitamins and minerals from the superfood beans.

                                                            Why, hello gorgeous!

I serve them with the salsa, sour cream, hot sauce, and corn chips. An awesome and  healthy dinner for any night of the week. If you're a flexitarian like me, having some good meatless recipes up your sleeve come in handy for fending off dedicated carnivores like my boyfriend, who never even bothered to ask if there was meat in these, like so many other vegetarian dishes I make. If you've got a small household, they freeze really well too, and can be stretched into two or three meals. I hope you enjoy these as much as I do!