Southwest Stuffed Peppers

For me dinner should never be boring.  I love to constantly try new things and see what new creations I can come up with so that dinner is always exciting.  When you get stuck in a rut it can be more tempting to go for the easy pre-prepared items from the store as your source of exciting dinner choices.  But they are rarely economically priced for what you get and definitely not a healthy choice.  Challenging yourself to not get in a rut and try new things can be hard because we often think of new things as difficult.  But that is not always the way it is, there are hundreds of dishes out there that are new and exciting without being difficult to make. For my new inspiration for this dish I did a little research online, I was looking for a stuffed pepper recipe that already utilized many things that I had on hand.  I found the recipe at Midwestvegetarian.com, if you are a meat eater never be afraid of finding recipes from vegetarian sites. The dishes are often so full of flavor because they don't contain meat that they make even the pickiest carnivores happy.

Southwest Stuffed Peppers

4 bell peppers (any colour) sliced in half and de-seeded
14.5 oz (400g) canned tomatoes
2 Tbsp fresh cilantro (coriander) leaves, chopped
1 cup corn, frozen or fresh
1 medium to hot chili pepper, diced (or 4oz canned chilies)
15 oz (400g) black beans, drained & rinsed
5 tsp ground cumin
3 tsp chili powder
8 oz cheddar cheese, shredded
2 scallions (green onions), chopped
2 cups cooked brown rice
the juice of 1 lime

Preheat oven to 375 F° (190 C°)
In a mixing bowl add beans, corn, chili pepper, cumin and chili powder.

Mix in chopped cilantro and scallions.






Add the cooked rice, chopped tomatoes, lime juice, cheese, mix well.
Prepare a 9×12 baking dish with cooking spray.   Spoon the rice mixture into the pepper halves.  Place the remaining rice mixture into the bottom of the prepared baking dish to create a base layer.  Place the peppers on top of the rice mixture.
Cover dish with foil and bake for 40-50 minutes, or until the peppers are tender.

Yield: 8 servings