Southwest Stuffed Peppers

Well, in the spirit of "you win some, you lose some," here is my dinner recipe from last night.  I have made stuffed peppers before, with a lot of rice for the filling.  I wanted to try this one because it has mostly meat for the filling and I thought that would be a better hit with my carnivores than a rice filling.  I knew that the younger kids would not eat the pepper, so the fact that you cook the peppers in the microwave for this recipe was not a deterrent for me, because I knew > 50% of us wouldn't be eating the peppers.  But green peppers are inexpensive and make a fun bowl. 

Before I tell you the recipe, let me show you the tool I use to hollow out the peppers.  Now, if you have any peppers reading this with you, you should cover their eyes, because this is going to get graphic.  I got this tool for like $4 from Pampered Chef.  It is awesome.  You just cut the top off the pepper, or cut it in half, whatever the recipe tells you to do, and scrape that thing over the ribs...the insides come right out.  I highly recommend it, and I am not getting compensated to say that.

Okay so here is the recipe.  It's from the Taste of Home cookbook my mom got me for Christmas this year.

Southwest Stuffed Peppers
1 lb lean ground beef
2/3 cup chopped red pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 3/4 cup chopped seeded tomatoes, divided (I just bought a can of petite diced tomatoes, because that sounded easier)
4 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (I omitted this)
1 1/2 cups water, divided
4 medium green peppers
2 tbsp sour cream (omitted this too because I don't like it)
2 tbsp shredded cheddar cheese (I used more than this)
2 green onions, chopped (I forgot to buy these)
4 grape tomatoes, halved, optional (so I opted not to, because you can't just buy 4 of these, and then I would have had to figure out what to do with the rest, and none of us like raw tomatoes)

In a large skillet, cook the beef, red pepper, and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink.  Add garlic and cook 1 minute longer; drain.

Stir in 1/2 cup tomatoes, chili powder, cornstarch, cumin, oregano, and cayenne.  Gradually stir in 1/2 cup of the water.  Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile, cut the green peppers in half lengthwise; remove seeds (with your handy tool if you have one...).  Place in an ungreased shallow 3-qt microwave safe dish; add remaining 1 cup water.

Cover and microwave on high for 8-10 minutes or until crisp-tender.  Drain.

Fill each pepper with about 1/3 cup beef mixture.  Top with remaining tomatoes and then garnish with sour cream, cheese, green onions, and grape tomatoes.

Ok.  Because you don't bake them or anything after you fill them, the filling did not get that characteristic green pepper flavor that you look for in a stuffed pepper.  Unless you eat the pepper, which only my husband did.  I also thought the filling wasn't salty enough, and both Nathan and I added salt to ours, but the other 3 thought the filling was fine and so they didn't.  As you can see, it would not really be worth making this recipe again, but it was fun for a change.  We had it with warm potato salad on the side.