This is a recipe I’ve made on occasion but have now made two or three times since we went meatless. In the past, I made it with hamburger meat, Spanish rice, taco seasoning, and either salsa or canned Rotel.

It’s pretty much the same now except I replaced the meat with refried beans. I’ve also added Quinoa instead of rice before and I like to add corn or onions to it for more flavor. In the past, I always used green bell peppers but a few weeks ago I made it with yellow and red peppers which are much sweeter. I love a good versatile recipe like this! Here’s my latest version:

I cut the tops off of two large bell peppers and removed all of the seeds and then set the peppers aside. Then in a large bowl I mixed together 1 pack of Uncle Ben’s Spanish Style Ready Rice (I don’t cook it first), half a cup of whole kernel corn (we grow corn so I used one ear and cut the kernels off), half a can of refried beans, and about one cup of salsa.

I pack this mixture into the peppers and then sit the the peppers in a shallow Pyrex dish with about an inch of water in the bottom. The water keeps the bottoms from burning. Then I baked them in the oven for about thirty minutes at 350 degrees. You’ll know they are nice and tender when the peppers start to wrinkle around the top. Top them with some shredded cheese right before you serve them. That’s it!

Each stuffed pepper is about 260 calories if you follow this recipe. They also have about 10 grams of protein and only 4 grams of fat depending on what type of beans you use. I like Simple Truth Organic refried beans. For salsa, I’ve used Pace or On The Border before. For this last meal, I used Carlita’s Thick and Chunky Mild Salsa because I discovered it’s very low in sugar – only about 1 gram of sugar per serving.

Here’s your grocery list:

1 Pack of Uncle Ben’s Spanish Style Ready Rice
1 15 oz. Can of Refried Beans (You will only use half for two peppers.)
1/2 Cup of Whole Kernel Corn (Fresh or canned. If you use canned, be sure to drain.)
1 Cup of Salsa
2 Large Bell Peppers (Make sure they are level on the bottom so they sit up.)
Some shredded cheese for garnish

1. Cut the tops off the bell peppers and remove the seeds.
2. In a large bowl mix the rice, corn, beans, and salsa together.
3. Pack the mixture into the bell peppers.
4. Place the peppers in a Pyrex or casserole dish with about one inch of water in the bottom of the dish.
5. Bake the peppers for thirty minutes at 350 degrees.
6. Remove the peppers from the oven and top with shredded cheese before serving.

Have you seen the post about how to determine the sex of a pepper by how many bumps are on the bottom? It says male peppers have 3 bumps and are good for cooking in dishes. Female peppers have 4 bumps and have more seeds or taste sweeter and are good for seed collecting or eating raw.

Well, folks, guess what? Peppers don’t have a sex. They are hermaphroditic. This “three bump or four bump” method is just a culinary way of remembering how a pepper tastes and how to use it when cooking. Assigning them a sex makes it easier to remember. So the method is true, but the peppers don’t really have a gender.

What is your favorite type of pepper and how do you enjoy cooking with it?  Do you have a favorite stuffed pepper recipe?