Enchilada Style Stuffed Peppers

No, I'm not kidding.  But first things first why don't you take a minute, seriously it takes one minute, to enter the Stella and Dot giveaway that I have going on right now!! Click here for the post and enter on the bottom of the page.  The contest goes until next Monday January 23rd.  

Okay, now, for real, these are amaze.  Sorry, amazing.  Mr. Schwartz had a sit down talk with me last night about how I need to finish my words and not shorten them.  He said half the time he doesn't know what I'm talking about.  I told him that he should just be smarter and figure out what I'm saying.  That did not go over well.  Aaaand, I mean, Jay-Z and Kanye totally say cray.  As in cray-zay. So, what's the big deal.   Then he started abbreviating everything he could think of.  Starting with "th y" as in thank you for a wonderful dinner.  Not okay. I get it. 

This are cray  crazy good!  I mean they are everything you love about enchiladas without the tortilla and stuffed in a green pepper!?  I do have to add that I used ground turkey and brown rice as well.  Therefore, a healthy dinner option.  Yes please!  

Musical Selection:  Breathe Again by: Toni Braxton.  I almost died when a fellow blogger mentioned this song on her blog the other day.  I haven't been able to get it out of my head since.  And, I couldn't find the Jay-z Kanye song where they say "cray."  I don't think my mom would have appreciated it anyway. 

Start by cutting the peppers lengthwise and making little pepper boats.  Set this aside.

And brown up some ground turkey.  You could also use ground beef but I thought the ground turkey was perfection.  Oh and I forgot, chop some onion and toss it in with this as well.

So basically you want to make taco meat.  So add your favorite taco seasoning.  I go very heavy on this stuff since I get it at Costco and I just dump it in.  Please note that you will or should use about two packets since the rice will be added and that takes away a bit of the flavor.

Add some water and give it a mix.

Lately I have been adding tomato paste to my taco meat as well.  It deepens the flavor and makes it nice and thick.  I dig it.

Stir it all up.

And give it a taste.  It should be pretty strong/spicy before you add the rice.

Speak of the devil, there it is.  Like I said, I used brown rice.  Specifically brown jasmine rice from Trader Joe's.  That stuff is fantastic. I under cooked it by about 10 minutes so it had a little bite to it yet.  I hate a mushy stuffed pepper and enjoyed the bit of texture the brown rice added.

I also tossed in a can of green chiles.

And some black beans.  Okay, super fun fact I learned: black beans can be frozen, defrosted and used! Seriously fantastic.  I was making tacos a few weeks ago and opened a can of black beans but forgot to put them in the tacos.  Cool.  I didn't want to waste them so I popped them in a freezer bag and into the freezer they went.  Last night I defrosted them a bit in the microwave, really not too much  since I knew they would get reheated in the taco mixture and in the oven and they were perfect. So, remember that one.

Here it is all stirred up.

Next stuff the heck out of the peppers.

Like that.  Well, kind of like that.  They don't need to be perfect and mine are not at all.  I had tooons of stuffing left too.  I'm thinking of making quesadillas with it or just putting it in the freezer to use next time I want to make these as in, like, next week.

Next comes the enchilada part.  I used canned enchilada sauce and poured it mainly in between the peppers and drizzled a little on the top of each pepper as well.

Like this.

Topped them all of with a mound of cheese and into the oven they went.  We like our peppers to have a bit of bite to them so we cooked them for about 40 minutes but I would suggest next time adding another can of enchilada sauce and letting them cook at least 45 minutes.  Making sure the cheese doesn't get burned though.

But they come out looking like this.  Ahhhhh!  Seriously these are so good. Mr. Schwartz would not stop raving about them.  

Oh hello perfect bite.  

Enchilada Style Stuffed Peppers

1 package (or lb) of ground turkey or beef

1 medium onion, diced

1 cup brown rice (uncooked)

2 packets taco seasoning (give or take depending on your taste)

2/3 cup water

1 small can of diced green chilies

1 small can tomato paste

1 can black beans

2 10oz cans enchilada sauce 

3-4 large green (or red) peppers

1 package (or about two cups) Mexican blend cheese (cheddar would work too)

Start with cooking the brown rice as directed on the package.  I cooked mine about 10 minutes short (it called for 35-40 minutes and I cooked it for 30) so it had a bit of bite left to it.  

Meanwhile, brown/cook the meat in a large skillet with the onion.  While the rice is cooking and the meat is browning, prepare the green peppers by cutting them length wise to create pepper boats. Place in a 9x13 pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray. 

Once the meat is fully cooked, add the taco seasoning, water, tomato paste, chilies and black beans.  Stir everything until it is combined.  Add the rice and stir again.  

Take the taco/rice mixture and stuff the peppers so they are heaping full.  Take the enchilada sauce and pour around the peppers, drizzling a little on each stuffed pepper as well.  Top each pepper with a good amount of cheese.  

Place in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes.  At that time, check the peppers that the cheese is not browning but is melted.  Take a knife and test the doneness of the peppers.  If it is to your liking take them out.  If they need a few more minutes place tin foil on the top and put them back in the oven for about 5-10 minutes.  

Take the peppers out and enjoy! 

Recipe by: Mrs. Schwartz