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Fast & Easy Dinner: Greek Orzo-Stuffed Peppers

partysugar — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 07:50:44 -0700

With their chickpea, orzo, and spinach filling, these stuffed peppers are a delightful vegetarian meal. Although there are several steps, this recipe is quick and uncomplicated. The pepper shells are flash cooked in the microwave, but if you prefer to throw them on the grill instead, do so. The stuffing mixture is adaptable, so you can take advantage of ingredients you already have at home: goat cheese can replace feta and fresh tomatoes stand in nicely for sun-dried tomatoes. To learn the technique, read more.

Greek Orzo-Stuffed Peppers
From Eating Well

Ingredients

4 yellow, orange and/or red bell peppers
1/2 cup whole-wheat orzo
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
6 ounces baby spinach, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese, divided
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes (not oil-packed), chopped
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar or red-wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

Halve peppers lengthwise through the stems, leaving the stems attached. Remove the seeds and white membrane. Place the peppers cut-side down in a large microwave-safe dish. Add 1/2 inch water, cover and microwave on High until the peppers are just softened, 7 to 9 minutes. Let cool slightly, drain and set aside.
Meanwhile, bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Add orzo and cook until just tender, 8 to 10 minutes or according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water.
Mash chickpeas into a chunky paste with a fork, leaving some whole.
Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, until soft, about 4 minutes.
Add spinach and oregano and cook, stirring, until the spinach is wilted, about 1 minute. Stir in the orzo, chickpeas, 1/2 cup feta, tomatoes, vinegar and salt; cook until heated through, about 1 minute.
Divide the filling among the pepper halves and sprinkle each pepper with some of the remaining 1/4 cup feta.

Serves 4.

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Fast & Easy Dinner: Beef & Bean Stuffed Peppers

partysugar — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 08:49:18 -0700

Most of the time, classic Tex-Mex food is full of delicious flavors and tons of fatty cheese and starchy chips. However, making Tex-Mex at home allows you to control the ingredients. For tonight's simple and scrumptious dinner, cereal provides crunch, low fat cheese is used in moderation, and large peppers replace flour tortillas. All of these substitutions help create a more health conscious dinner. To get the recipe to this beautifully presented meal, read more

Beef & Bean Stuffed Peppers
From Betty Crocker
Image Source

1 1/2 cups Fiber One cereal
2 cups tomato puree (from 28-oz can)
4 medium bell peppers
1/2 pound extra-lean ground beef
1 medium onion, finely chopped (1/2 cup)
1 cup red kidney beans (from 19-oz can), drained, rinsed
1 can (4.5 ounces) chopped green chiles, undrained
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 cup shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese, if desired

Heat oven to 350ºF.
Crush cereal.* Mix cereal and tomato puree; let stand 5 minutes.
Cut bell peppers lengthwise in half. Remove seeds and membranes. Place peppers, cut sides up, in rectangular baking dish, 13x9x2 inches.
Cook beef and onion in 10-inch skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until beef is brown; drain. Stir in cereal mixture and remaining ingredients except cheese. Divide beef mixture evenly among peppers.
Cover and bake 40 minutes or until peppers are tender. Sprinkle each pepper half with 1/2 tablespoon cheese; let stand 5 minutes.

Serves 8.

*Place cereal in plastic bag or between sheets of waxed paper or plastic wrap; crush with rolling pin. Or crush in blender or food processor.

Nutrition Information: 1 Serving: Calories 105 (Calories from Fat 35 ); Total Fat 4 g (Saturated Fat 1 g); Cholesterol 15 mg; Sodium 410 mg; Total Carbohydrate 26 g (Dietary Fiber 9 g); Protein 11 g Percent Daily Value: Vitamin A 26 %; Vitamin C 60 %; Calcium 6 %; Iron 24 % Exchanges: 1 Starch; 2 Vegetable

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Healthy Dinner Idea: Mexican Stuffed Peppers

FitSugar — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 09:30:00 -0700

I'm a huge fan of Mexican food and I love stuffed peppers, so I decided to make up a meal that combines the two. This recipe calls for layers of spicy beans and rice, so it's full of fiber, protein, and zesty flavor.

Want to know how I make them? Then read more

Mexican Stuffed Peppers:

Mexican Stuffed Peppers
Original recipe, Makes 4 stuffed peppers

This vegetarian recipe calls for layers of spicy tomatoes, beans, and rice.

Ingredients

4 peppers
5 tomatoes or 1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can black beans, rinsed
1 carrot, diced
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup dry rice
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or more if you like it really spicy)
Salt and pepper to taste
Shredded Monterey jack cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 350° F.
In one pot, pour in the 1/2 cup of rice and one cup of water. If you like your rice to be a little sticky rather than dry, add another 1/4 cup water. Cover it and place it on high heat until it starts to boil. Then lower to simmer and cook for 20 minutes (or whatever the package says).
In another pot, pour in the diced tomatoes, onions, beans, carrots, and garlic. Heat it on medium heat.
After the tomatoes and bean mixture has been cooking for ten minutes or so, turn off the heat. Add the cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper to your liking. The carrots should still be tender and it should look like this.
Check on the rice. It should look like this.
Now wash the peppers and with a knife, cut a circle around the stem. Remove the stem and all the seeds. Now begin layering inside your peppers. Start with the tomato and bean mixture. Put 2 tbsp in the bottom of each pepper. Then add 2 tbsp of the rice. Layer until the pepper is full. Top with shredded Monterey jack cheese.
Place them in the oven for 45 to 60 minutes. Serve hot and enjoy.

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Weekend Well-Being: Stuffed Red Peppers

FitSugar — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 03:00:00 -0700

The other night, I had the hankering for stuffed red peppers, but since I had left my grocery list at home on the kitchen table I made it home missing many key ingredients for the recipe I had planned to make. Not to be thwarted, I decided to follow my own recipe and make it up as I cooked. Lucky for me the final product turned out to be quite tasty. So tasty, that I am going to share it with you.

Creating your own stuffing is pretty simple too. Basically you need some kind of carb, some herbs, some veggies and something to make it all stick together - like eggs or cheese. There are so many different variations on stuffed veggies. You can use different spice combinations and change up the cheese and end up with a totally different taste sensation.

To see what I used and check out my recipe just read more

Stuffed Red Peppers

What you need:

4 medium red peppers, halved lengthwise and seeded
2 cups cooked brown rice
2 medium julienned carrots
1 medium onion chopped
3 ribs celery chopped
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley
3 cloves of garlic minced
1/2 cup pureed tomatoes (go ahead and use canned)
1 cup dry red wine
8 ounces grated Gruyère cheese
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 roasted cup pine nuts
salt and pepper

What you do:

Peel and press all three garlic cloves and let it sit to release the cancer fighting enzymes.
Spray a large pan with olive oil cooking spray. Sauté carrots for 3 minutes on medium heat.
Add onion, celery and herbs and sauté for 3 minutes. Add garlic and sauté for a few more minutes.
Add tomato puree and wine and cook for 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Salt and pepper to taste.
Combine veggies, cooked rice, eggs and cheese.
Evenly divide the stuffing mixture between the 8 pepper halves.
Bake in a 9x11 pyrex pan sprayed with olive oil cooking at 350 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes, or until the stuffing is browned on top. (Save some gas and don't bother pre-heating your oven!).

Enjoy!

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The Amazing Rice: Rice, Chorizo, Shrimp Stuffed Poblanos

partysugar — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 10:15:06 -0700

My rice journey continues with these scrumptious stuffed poblanos. I had chorizo in my fridge, so when I stumbled across this recipe I knew I had to make it. The chorizo is cooked with spicy and sweet peppers making for a flavorful rice base. Shrimp is stirred in at the last minute adding a surf-and-turf layer to the dish. Although the recipe doesn't call for it, I mixed a couple of tablespoons of cheese in with the rice before stuffing the peppers. The final stuffed pepper is a meal in itself that would be delicious at a Mexican fiesta. To see how I made it, read more.

Rice, Chorizo, Shrimp Stuffed Poblanos
From From Guy Fieri

Ingredients

1 tablespoon oil
1/2 pound Mexican-style chorizo
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1 jalapeno, minced
1 red onion, diced
2 tablespoons garlic, minced
1 cup short-grain rice
1 cup low-sodium chicken stock
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup water
6 large, fresh poblano chiles (also known as pasilla peppers)
1 pound shrimp, shelled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3/4 cup Cheddar, shredded
3/4 cup Jack cheese, shredded

Directions

In a medium saucepan, heat oil and chorizo, cook for 3 minutes.
Add peppers, jalapeno, onions and garlic. Cook until translucent about 8-10 minutes.

Add the rice and Stir, cooking until all the grains of the rice are coated with oil.
Add all liquids and stir over high heat for 3 minutes, cover and reduce heat to low. Check rice for doneness after 20 minutes.

Meanwhile preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Place poblano chiles on baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Once cool, cut top 1/4 of chile off and remove ribs and seeds.

When rice is finished cooking, fluff with fork and stir in shrimp.
Stuff chiles with 1/6 of the rice mixture.

Place all the chiles on baking sheet and place into oven for 10 minutes.
Remove from oven, mix cheeses together and cover pepper with cheese. Broil for 3 minutes to melt and brown the cheese.

Makes 6 stuffed peppers.*

*Since I was cooking for myself, I halved the recipe. However there was enough rice mixture to stuff 4 peppers.

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Stuffed Chard Lamb is Delicious for Dinner

YumSugar — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:15:18 -0700

Whenever I take a trip to the store, a couple of items that aren't on my grocery list make their way into my cart. When I spotted a California-raised lamb shoulder at the meat counter, I couldn't stop myself from sliding it into the shopping cart.

I was eager to experiment with lamb because of a recent disappointing experience with imported Australian lamb. Ironically, I found an Australian recipe that I decided to try. If I made it with a local piece of meat, the dish might taste better.

And taste better it did! The lamb is filled with a rich stuffing of eggplant, onions, bell pepper, wine-soaked dried currants, and toasted pine nuts. The bold flavor of the lamb balances out the sweetness of the stuffing and the bitterness of the chard resulting in a dish that is succulent and scrumptious. To try this rewarding lamb dish, read more.

Roasted Stuffed Lamb With Swiss Chard
Gourmet Traveller

Ingredients

Currant and pine nut stuffing
1/3 cup dried currants
1/3 cup Merlot
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, coarsely chopped
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
4 anchovies, finely chopped
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
1 small eggplant, peeled and chopped
1 red bell pepper
2 tsp brown sugar, or to taste
1 tsp fresh or 2 tsp dried Greek oregano
1 lemon, finely grated rind only
For the lamb:
1 1/2 pounds boneless lamb shoulder, butterflied
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 bunch Swiss Chard
1/2 tsp nutmeg, or to taste
1 tsp fresh Greek Oregano
1/2 cup Merlot wine

Directions

For stuffing, combine currants and wine in a bowl.
Chop eggplant, garlic, onions and red bell pepper.
Heat oil in a large frying pan, add onion, garlic, anchovy, and nuts and sauté for 5 minutes over medium heat or until soft and nuts start to brown. Add eggplant and bell pepper, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until soft.
Season to taste with sugar, sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Add, wine-soaked currants, oregano and lemon rind and cook for another 10 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Cool.
Preheat oven to 390°F. Place lamb skin-side down on a bench, spread over stuffing, roll up tightly, rather than use twine to secure the lamb, I used these stretch hot cooking bands! Combine 2 teaspoons of olive oil, salt, nutmeg, Greek oregano season to taste and rub over lamb. Place lamb in the baking dish and pour 1/2 cup merlot in the bottom of the pan.
Roast for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 375°F and roast for 1 hour for medium. Cover with foil and rest for 10 minutes.
Heat remaining oil in a large frying pan over medium heat, add garlic and cook for 1 minute or until golden. Add chard and cook for 5 minutes or until tender, then add leaves and cook for another 5 minutes or until wilted. Slice lamb thinly and serve on a bed of chard topped with any extra stuffing.

Serves 6.

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Fast & Easy Dinner: Pasta-Stuffed Peppers

YumSugar — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 06:45:00 -0800

If you're a fan of poblanos stuffed with rice or any stuffed peppers, you'll love this new twist on the classic: Roasted peppers are filled with spaghetti instead of rice. The pasta is tossed in olive oil with pine nuts, olives, raisins, and capers.

This Mediterranean-inspired meal can be on the table in under an hour. To make it tonight, read more.

Pasta-Stuffed Peppers
From Domino

Ingredients

10 mixed yellow and red bell peppers
1 lb. bucatini or spaghetti
1/3 cup pine nuts
2-1/2 tbsp. olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp. capers
1/2 cup yellow raisins
1/2 cup pitted black olives, coarsely chopped
Salt and black pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Cut tops off peppers and remove seeds; reserve tops. Put peppers in a large baking dish; set aside.
Parboil the pasta by cooking it 3/4 of the time recommended on package (it should be somewhat underdone). Transfer to a colander, and run under cold water to stop the cooking.
Place a dry skillet over medium-low heat, and toast pine nuts until golden, about 5 minutes; transfer to a large bowl.
Heat olive oil in skillet and add garlic; sauté 30 seconds and transfer to the bowl. Add capers, raisins and olives to bowl. Add pasta, toss, and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Fill each pepper with pasta mixture and replace the tops. Bake for 25 minutes, or until browned.

Serves 10.

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Sunday Slow Cooker: Greek Stuffed Peppers

YumSugar — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 06:00:29 -0800

Looking for a low-key Sunday night meal? Look no further than tender, slow-cooked red bell peppers, stuffed with a Greek-inspired filling of fiber-rich cannellini beans, crumbled feta cheese, scallions, and herbed couscous.

Like many Mediterranean specialties, this meal is satisfyingly hearty, yet light and nutritious at the same time. For a low-carb or gluten-free version, consider swapping out the couscous for a grain like quinoa. To make this for your next meal, read more.

Greek Stuffed Peppers
From Everyday Food

Ingredients

4 large bell peppers
1 can (15 ounces) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup crumbled feta (4 ounces)
1/2 cup couscous
4 scallions, white and green parts separated, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Coarse salt and ground pepper
Lemon wedges, for serving

Directions

Slice a very thin layer from the base of each bell pepper so they sit flat. Slice off tops just below stem. Discard stems; chop tops, and place in a medium bowl. Remove ribs and seeds from peppers.
To bowl, add beans, feta, couscous, scallion whites, garlic, and oregano. Season with salt and pepper, and toss to combine. Stuff peppers with bean mixture; place upright in slow cooker. Cover; cook on high, 4 hours.
Sprinkle peppers with scallion greens; serve with lemon wedges.

Serves 4.

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Stuffed Squash Two Ways - Beginner and Expert

YumSugar — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:50:12 -0800

If you're attending a potluck this Thanksgiving and have been assigned to bring a side, be sure to pick something that's classic yet breaks just enough from the norm, so you know there won't be repeated dishes on the table.

Why not spring for the always stress-free and elegant course known as stuffed squash? Keep it simple and fill the gourd with an Italian-inspired medley of sausage, garlic, peppers, and cheese. Alternately, add another layer of texture by simmering couscous, then fluffing it into a sweet-savory dressing of ground beef, onions, cranberries, and walnuts. For a Thanksgiving side - or everyday meal! - that's sophisticated yet straightforward, keep reading.

Taste Test: Quizno's Toasty Bullet Subs

YumSugar — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 15:30:07 -0700

It's a well documented fact that I'm a fiend for sandwiches; likewise, PartySugar loves them, especially warm, toasty paninis. Naturally, when Quizno's launched its new Toasty Bullets, it wasn't long before we went to our neighborhood outpost to check them out.

Customers can get a Toasty Bullet in five different flavors: Italian, Big Kahuna Tuna, Pesto Turkey, Turkey Club, and Beef, Bacon & Cheddar. The snack-sized sandwiches are about eight inches long and two inches wide, cost a dollar or two less than the average Quizno's sandwich, and come in a nifty paper pocket to assist with easy, on-the-go eating. Did any of these stun us with their bold flavors - or should you be dodging these bullets? Find out after the jump