6/18/2011 Basket - Mini Stuffed Peppers

My in-laws are fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants sort of people. So when they decided to make a spur-of-the-moment trip to Utah this last weekend, and told me that they'd be visiting Grandpa on Sunday afternoon/evening, I should have known better than to think I'd be off the cuff for dinner.

Well, Sunday morning as I left for church, they changed plans. Suddenly I was in charge of making the big Father's Day dinner. I called my mom, cancelled going to her place, and started churning. What on earth did I have enough of that I could make for one celiac (no gluten) and three people with lactose intolerance? Talk about a quagmire. Luckily, my husband suggested that we had a boat-load of small sweet peppers, and in a stroke of brilliance I realized that I could do mini stuffed peppers. They turned out delish, and everyone could eat them. Points for Janae: 100.

Mini Stuffed Peppers*
Uses: Hoards of small sweet peppers

These are cold leftovers, and they still look yummy.

15-20 small sweet peppers (appx)
1 lb ground beef
2 T onion, chopped
1 c cooked rice
1t salt
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 (8oz) cans tomato sauce
1/2 c shredded mozzarella cheese

Slice off the tops of the small peppers and seed them. Cook in enough boiling water to cover for about 5 minutes, drain. Cook beef and onion over medium heat until brown. Stir in rice, salt, garlic, and one can of tomato sauce; cook until hot. Stuff peppers with beef mixture** and lay sideways on a cookie sheet covered with foil. Pour the remaining can of tomato sauce over the openings of the peppers, sprinkle with mozzarella. Cook for 20 minutes at 350°.

*This recipe is based on Stuffed Peppers from the Betty Crocker Cookbook
** You will likely have left-over filling. Since my kids don't like the peppers, I usually just give them the left-over filling.