Stuffed Peppers: Check the Clearance Rack!

While shopping the produce department of my favorite grocery store, I happened upon some “clearance” peppers.  They had started to wrinkle just a little bit, but they were still perfectly fine.  I picked up a bag of 5 red peppers for $1.92 and a bag of 5 green peppers for $1.84.  I couldn’t believe my luck!  They were beautiful, and you could even still put them on a salad, but my mind instantly went to when I was a kid and my mom would make a huge batch of Stuffed Peppers, freezing half of them for when peppers weren’t quite so inexpensive.  With peppers in my cart, I set out to make some Stuffed Peppers for my family.

What’s the Stuffing in a Stuffed Peppers?

I love to mix and match when it comes to stuffed peppers, depending on my mood and what’s easily available at the time.  The color of the pepper only matters if you want sweet or bold, as the bright colored peppers are wonderfully sweet, while the green peppers are bold.  Ground chuck is always the base I use in my Stuffed Peppers.  Sometimes I add things like ground Italian sausage, or bacon.  Even the binder changes.  Sometimes bread crumbs, sometimes cooked rice, and sometimes even quinoa, a wonderful grain.  One of the great things about Stuffed Peppers is the versatility you have in making them your own.

Freezing Stuffed Peppers for Later

If you’d like to take advantage of sale peppers and freeze some Stuffed Peppers for later, it’s really quite simple.  Make up the peppers as usual.  Line a baking tray with parchment or wax paper.  Place the peppers on the baking tray and freeze until solid, about an hour or two.  Place in a freezer weight plastic zippy bag and store in the freezer.  Add about 15 minutes to the bake time and enjoy Stuffed Peppers any time of the year.

4 peppers, any color

1 lb ground beef

4 slices bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled

1/2 C quinoa

1/2 C hot water

salt

pepper

1 15 oz can tomato sauce

Heat oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut the top of the peppers off, just under the stem.  Clean out the interior of seeds and remove the stem from the top.  Set them aside.

In a medium bowl, place the quinoa and hot water.  Let sit until the water is absorbed.

Add the beef and bacon.  Mix well.  Season with the salt and pepper.

Fill the pepper cavities with the meat mixture and place in a baking dish.

Cover with the tomato sauce and top with the pepper tops.

Cover loosely with foil.  Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes, until meat is cooked through.

Serve hot.

Take advantage of beautiful peppers on sale, or peppers from a farmer’s market.  Make up some Stuffed Peppers and enjoy!