stuffed bell peppers

this recipe is so very easy. well, the steps are. the fact that i burned the shit out of my palm after turning the wrong burner on and grabbing the pot handle that was hovering over the hot burner, splitting half of the peppers in two - is completely just my luck when it comes to cooking. anyway - here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 bag of instant rice
• 1 cup water
• 4 green bell peppers
• 2 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce
• 1 can of diced tomatoes (i used the fire roasted ones)
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 clove of garlic, minced
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• shredded cheese

DIRECTIONS

preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

in a skillet, add the chopped onion, garlic and brown your ground beef, drain. while that is cooking, chunk one of those instant bags of rice into a pot and cook until done. oh, and make sure you turn the right burner on. and if you dont, dont just go grab the pot and put it on the right burner - cuz that handle will burn you. and you work with your hands to make a living - and it sucks wearing band aids while you're a hairstylist. not to mention sick.

wash your bell peppers (you can use any color, i use green because i cant justify spending $3ea. for the red/yellow ones). remove and discard the tops, seeds, and membranes (yeah, i said membranes) of the bell peppers. in a big ass stock pot, boil the peppers in water for a few minutes. you want to make sure they are soft. im not sure of the timing, i just stick my tongs in there and feel around to see if they're wobbly. 

 

forewarning: when you try to get them out, use a big spoon instead of tongs. why? oh you know, the wobbly pepper will split, crashing into the boiling water and splashing you in the FACE. yeah, i dont want to talk about it.

in the skillet, mix the browned beef, cooked rice (notice the ease of dumping the bag o rice in there?), 1 can tomato sauce, tomatoes (sans juice) worcestershire sauce, seasoning (i used oregano, basil, rosemary, thyme) salt, and pepper. 

 

make sure your skillet is big enough. i'm an idiot and didnt use my big skillet and my cup almost runneth over. gotta keep myself on my toes, ya know? let it all simmer for a few minutes to flavor it up.

spoon an equal amount of the mixture into each hollowed pepper. mix the remaining tomato sauce and some more italian seasoning in a bowl, and pour over the stuffed peppers. *OH! make sure, when you are buying bell peppers, to test them to see if they stand up on their own well. its a pain in the butt to try to stand up a wobbly and crooked pepper.*

line a cookie sheet or pan with foil (so nick doesnt have to do that many dishes), assemble, and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes. for the last 10 minutes, sprinkle cheese on top.

 

 

 

 

the first one i grabbed looked amazing and beautiful. i gave it to nick.  

 

 

 

 

and then i stumbled upon a couple of the ones i broke trying to get them out of that pot of boiling lava: 

 

 

 

whatever. it was good.