When I was a kid my mother would make us cringe with the creations that she would bring to the table in an effort to get us to try new things.  As I look back now I am ever so glad that she did because it broadened my horizons in trying new things.

Now it’s my privilege to make my own family cringe as I play in the kitchen.

The latest of these meals was stuffed bell peppers.  I don’t know about you, but I love bell pepper and the flavor it adds to many a dish.  I was looking for something different to bring to the table after what seemed like a long list of repeat meals and saw stuffed bell peppers on a friend’s Facebook page.  I had never made these before and was trying to keep them fairly healthy, so it was definitely an experiment.

Stuffed Bell Peppers take a fair amount of prep time, so if you are looking for a quick meal this probably isn’t it, but on the plus side you can prepare much of this ahead of time and make it an easy to assemble meal.

3-4 large bell peppers

2 cups cooked rice (I used Jasmine rice)

1 pound ground London Broil; cooked, drained & set aside (they will grind this for you at the meat counter if you ask)

 1 medium onion, diced

11/2 cups sliced, fresh okra
1 cup diced tomatoes
1 Tablespoon chili powder
1 tsp. red pepper flakes (more or less depending on your taste)

2 8 oz. can no-salt tomato sauce (I use Publix brand)

Mrs. Dash Chipotle seasoning

Putting It Together:

Clean out your bell peppers of seed and the membrane so that you have a hollow “bowl” which to stuff.   Set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the prepared rice, ground London Broil, onion, okra, diced tomatoes, one can of the tomato sauce and 3 tablespoons of the chipotle seasoning.  Mix well together.

“Stuff” as much of the mixture as possible into the prepared bell pepper.

Place the “stuffed” peppers in a cast iron Dutch oven (or other oven dish that can be covered).  Pour the remaining can of tomato sauce over the tops of the bell peppers.

Cover and bake at 375 degrees about 20-30 minutes.  I like my peppers to remain crisp, but heated through, so I left mine in about 20 minutes.  You will also want to cook this longer if you prepped the ingredients head of time and they are cold.

Serve with any of the leftover rice mixture (that you have heated either with the peppers in the oven, or on the stovetop).

This made for a filling dinner without sides, but a crisp salad would go well with this if needed.  My stuffed peppers had a little cajun taste to it, but that was just my hubbys opinion.

I’m linking up with Foodie Friday this week.

Bon Appetite’!