I am an explorer of food.

I have always liked the idea of stuffed foods. I don't care for dressing that was actually in the turkey at Thanksgiving, but stuffed loin, breast, or vegetable, makes me pretty happy. So I decided to try the elusive sweet pepper stuffing. My friend Kim has gotten the formula down after a couple masterpieces so I took a page from her book.

Basic formula: seasonal veggies + Starch (ie Rice, quinoa, couscous) + cheese + pepper half + heat =  YUM

So I did just that. mine needed more starch, but was still very acceptable in the eyes of those who ate them and myself. I had left over rice from Jones Special as well as beef and onions. Those went into the food processor, plus a frozen Mexican Vegetables (corn, cauliflower, broccoli, red peppers), some Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, and ricotta. A few pulses of ye olde processor, throw then in the pepper halves, top with a bit more cheese, bake at 375 degrees until fragrant and cheese is bubbly.

They turned out good (plus they looked purty)! Husband and I agreed that there was no "wow" factor to them, but for mild mannered side/appetizer dish, they were solid. I think that some sort of drizzle on top (like a sun dried tomato or garlic infused oil or balsamic reduction) could have bumped it up to a 10, yet I am content that they were a 6.5.


** The title today comes from the American humorist, Erma Bombeck.  "I am not a glutton. I am an explorer of food." **