Stuffed Peppers

Yesterday, the family & I took a trip to Old Town. We went through all the little shops, stopped to listen to some pan flutes, and got a few good pictures. Deidra bought some heavy-duty, authentic margarita glasses. OBVIOUSLY we had to break them in and make margaritas!

Cody & I never get to pay for the bill when we go out with the family. The least I can do is cook up a good meal, so that's exactly what I did. With the help of Chef Chuck and Jose Cuervo, dinner was super tasty. We had stuffed peppers and roasted rosemary asparagus. Yum!!!





Stuffed Peppers
Prep time: 20 minutes

4 green bell peppers
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp thyme
salt & pepper
1 package Burger Crumbles
1 cup cooked brown rice (I use instant rice. It's easier!)
1 small can tomato sauce (I think it's 8 oz!)
Dash of soy sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
Dash of hot sauce

1. Preheat oven to 375° F. Cut of just the top of the green peppers. Remove the seeds and discard. In a large pot, bring to boil just enough water to cover the peppers. Keep them in the boiling water until they turn bright green, about 7 minutes.

2. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the onion and garlic, cook until tender. Add the spices and stir. Pour in the entire bag of crumbles and heat through. Add the rice, tomato sauce and soy sauce. Stir until evenly distributed.

3. When the peppers are bright green, carefully remove them with tongs. Place in a large baking dish filled with 2-inches of water. Fill each pepper with the meat mixture.

4. Combine the ketchup, hot sauce and another dash of soy sauce to taste. Spoon a little bit of this mixture on top of the stuffed peppers. Bake for 20 minutes.



Roasted Rosemary Asparagus
Prep Time: 5 minutes

2 bunches of fresh asparagus
2 sprigs of rosemary (Chuck has an herb garden, so this rosemary was sooooo fresh and delicious!
2 garlic cloves, minced
Fresh black pepper
Olive Oil

1. Remove the bottoms of the asparagus. A trick I like to use is to hold one end of the asparagus in each hand, bend, and where it breaks is a guideline for where you should cut the bottoms.

2. In a large Ziplock bag, place the asparagus, garlic, rosemary (OFF the sprigs!), pepper, and enough olive oil to coat completely. Let this marinade for AT LEAST 20 minutes.

3. Remove from plastic bag and place on tinfoil. Either roast in the oven at 400° F or on the grill. Roast for 10 minutes, making sure to flip once.



Chuck cooked these on the grill and it was, by far, the best asparagus I've ever had. The fresh rosemary accented the asparagus, and the garlic was super tasty. The pieces that were slightly charred were even better. And....we all now how Cody feels about asparagus, so everyone was quite pleased!





We have done stuffed peppers quite a few times now and they always go over well. The asparagus was really good with the rosemary too. Do not fear this dish, it tastes like normal food!

(DISCLAIMER: My husband is boring today. I apologize to all his devoted fans.)

...Ok, how about this for a disclaimer: I take back what I said. There. Now nobody will know if your food is really good or not. HA!