Quick and Easy Stuffed Bell Peppers

Last night, we went meatless and taco "ish."  I was looking for something quick and easy because I was feeling lazy, but I was hungry.  So I decided to make stuffed bell peppers with a Mexican flavor.

I started with some cute little bell peppers my sister gave me from her garden, home-made salsa, 1/2 a small onion (chopped), tops of the peppers (chopped) and some rice and black beans I had already prepared and froze.

I mixed everything together, stuffed the peppers and then topped with Monterrey Jack cheese.  I thought we would eat two each and have leftovers, nope.  We each had 3 1/2!  They were very light and yummy.

Ingredients:

1 cup salsa

1/2 cup chopped onions

1/4 cup chopped bell pepper

7 small green bell peppers

1 1/2 cups cooked rice (est.)

1 cup black beans  (est.)

Monterrey Jack cheese

Here's the rundown:

Bring large pan of water to boil, add bell peppers and boil for 3 minutes.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove bell peppers and set aside.  Saute chopped onions and peppers in oil of your choice until onions are transparent and peppers are soft.  Mix with salsa, rice and black beans.  My rice and beans were pre-
seasoned with garlic, salt and pepper.  So put whatever spices you like, taste and re-season if necessary.
I lined a casserole dish with aluminum foil for easier clean-up.  Place bell peppers in dish or on baking sheet and stuff with rice mixture.  Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove from oven, place cheese on top and return to oven until cheese is melted.

I used really small bell peppers.  If you are using full-sized ones, you will need to add about 15 more minutes to the cooking time so they will be nice and toasty.

Do you make stuffed peppers?  What's your favorite way to prepare them?  If you try this recipe, let me know how they turned out.

Thanks for stopping by,
Natosha