stuffed peppers

I'm not big on spice - I like medium salsa, such a small amount of wasabi it's pretty much pointless, and I can do without cayenne. But that's not why I don't like stuffed jalepenos - I just don't like the taste of those particular peppers. So if you're dead set on stuffing jalepenos, well, branch out and use bell peppers. Or use your jalepenoes. I'll never know.


6 bell peppers (when they're on sale, I get red, orange, or yellow. Otherwise I use green)
1 pound ground beef or turkey
1 cup cooked rice or quinoa (trying to get peeps in your house to eat quinoa? They'll never know it's in here)
1 onion, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup salsa
1 cup total frozen veggies (corn, peas, peppers, etc)

For the stuffing:
1. Cook onion & garlic in 1T oil over medium-high heat just until tender. Don't brown them!
2. Add ground beef or turkey. Break up as it cooks using a spatula, so it's in small crumbles.
3. When it's almost done, add the rice, salsa, and veggies, stirring to incorporate.

For the peppers:
(OK, I'm always torn here. If you leave the peppers in tact and only cut off the tops, they look so much prettier. And yet, as much as Mr. Improv loves this dish, it's not exactly stick-to-your-ribs filling. So I often cut them in half, top to bottom, leaving the top & stem in tact. This allows me to squeeze a bit more stuffing into each 1/2 than I can get into a whole pepper. Plus, toddlers just can't appreciate the aesthetic qualities of the whole pepper -they just make a mess eating it.)
1. Cut the tops off, leaving the rest of the bell pepper in tact. Remove seeds & any extra "white stuff" (no idea what it's called)
2. Spoon the stuffing into the peppers, squishing it down with your fingers or the back of the spoon.
3. Place pepper top over stuffing.
4. Bake at 400 for 25 minutes or until peppers are barely soft.
*Optional: if you're stuffing pepper halves instead of whole peppers, top each with cheese before baking.