SW Stuffed Peppers!

One of our favorite healthy dinners is Southwest Stuffed Peppers! I found this recipe at http://kalynskitchen.blogspot.com/2007/10/recipe-favorites-southwestern-stuffed.html

Hope you enjoy it as much as we did last night! Great as left overs too!

6 large red, yellow, orange, or green peppers
1 lb. extra lean ground beef (less than 10% fat) (we used ground turkey)
1-2 tsp. olive oil if needed
1 onion, chopped
1 can black beans, rinsed well and drained
1 can diced tomatoes and juice
1 can (4 oz.) diced green chiles with juice
1 tsp. chile powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
2 cups cooked brown rice (use boil in a bag, so simple)
1 1/2 cups grated cheese (I used Mexican Four Cheese Blend which is low fat cheeses)

Preheat oven to 375 F.

In large frying pan, brown ground beef well and drain off fat. Push ground beef to the side, add a bit of olive oil if pan seems dry and saute onion 3-4 minutes, until well softened. Add rinsed black beans, tomatoes and juice, green chiles and juice, chile powder, and cumin. Reduce heat to low and simmer 20-30 minutes, until most of the liquid has evaporated.

While mixture simmers, cut tops off peppers and remove seeds.

When mixture in pan seems dry, turn off heat. Let cool about 5 minutes, then mix in cooked rice and cheese. Stuff each pepper with the meat/rice mixture, pushing it down so peppers are tightly filled.

Place peppers in a dish small enough to hold them compactly and cover with foil. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Remove foil, and bake 10-20 minutes more, until tops are slightly browned and pepper skin can be pierced easily with a fork. Serve immediately.