Beef-stuffed Peppers

Total Time: 1 hr 30 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 4 large green peppers, red peppers or 4 large yellow peppers
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
• 1 stalk celery, chopped (1/2 cup)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 8 ounces ground beef (lean)
• 8 ounces ground lamb
• 1 cup brown rice (cooked and drained)
• 1 cup low-sodium crushed tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
• 2 tablespoons fresh basil or 2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 pinch ground red pepper (cayenne)
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons onions, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 cups crushed tomatoes (low-sodium)
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper

Recipe

• 1 half-fill a large saucepan with cold water and bring to a boil over high heat.
• 2 trim the top 1/2 inch off each sweet pepper and remove the seeds and ribs ( be careful not to cut through the bottoms).
• 3 slide the peppers into the boiling water and simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes.
• 4 remove with tongs or a slotted spoon and drain upside-down.
• 5 to prepare the stuffing: preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease an 8" round baking dish.
• 6 in a 12" nonstick skillet, heat the oil over moderately high heat.
• 7 add the onion, celery, and garlic and saute for 5 minutes or until tender.
• 8 add the beef and lamb and cook, stirring frequently, for 8 minutes or until no longer pink.
• 9 stir in the remaining stuffing ingredients.
• 10 bring to a simmer, then remove from the heat.
• 11 spoon this mixture into the sweet peppers, and stand them upright in the baking dish.
• 12 bake, uncovered for 40 minutes or until tender.