Crockpot Stuffed Peppers

Please join in the collective "Ahhhh".  My DH got me a new camera for our anniversary!  Isn't she a beaut?  I'm slightly in love.  Alright.  More than slightly!  I took 800+ pictures with her the first weekend I had her.  Really.  I'm slightly ashamed by that vast number in 5 days.  Hey! At least it was a long weekend!?!  Anyway - this is the first time I have used her for taking food pictures... and I must say... I'm smitten!  It's amazing what a good camera can do with poor lighting.  And I'm amazed, too, because you can see the water droplets on the washed bell peppers!  Yes you can! Wowzers!  So regardless of how this recipe turns out, I'm posting it because I used the camera for the first time.  The recipe got rave reviews on Stephanie O'Dea's blog.  In 8 hours, we'll find out if the Greenes give it rave reviews too!

Crockpot Stuffed Peppers - From Stephanie O'Dea's post


Ingredients

Bell Peppers (I used 4 for a 4 qt crockpot, she used 6 for a 6 qt crockpot - you just want enough to nestle in there nicely)
1 lb lean ground beef (I used 99% lean ground turkey)
1 cup cooked rice
1 can flavored tomatoes (I used just plain, no salt added diced tomatoes)
1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/3 cup of water
Parmesan cheese, for topping, optional

Directions

Test your peppers to make sure they fit in your crockpot!  I used red because we like how sweet they become when cooked, but green or any other color would work just fine.  

In a bowl, mix the turkey, rice, tomatoes, worcestershire sauce, ketchup, and seasonings.  I used a few shakes of all purpose seasoning since I used plain tomatoes.

Her website didn't say wether to drain the tomatoes or not, but I just took a chance and threw them in as is.  That was the right thing to do because it gave everything enough liquid to fit together well in the pepper.  So, yes, add in the entire can of diced tomatoes - liquid and all. Mix together with a spoon and set aside.

Meanwhile, wash and clean out the peppers.  Remove the seeds from the tops.  Save the tops - I was actually careful to replace the tops on the pepper in which it came from because I'm a little type A like that.  But in the end, that step didn't matter ;)

Stuff a generous amount of the meat and rice mixture into each pepper then replace the top.  I thought the mixture might shrink a little when cooked, but it didn't.  It stayed very firm and packed.

Pour in 1/3 cup of water around the bases of the peppers.  Cook on low for 6 - 8 hours.  I cooked mine for 8 hours.

Here's the problem.  I had enough for another pepper left over.  I'm thinking I might mix it in with some spaghetti sauce or tomatoes for Little One to eat this week.

After 8 hours, this is how delicious they were!  The water steams everything.  The house smelt wonderful all day!

Here are the babies.  Mmmmmm...

To serve, I removed the top of the pepper and topped stuffed pepper with some parmesan cheese.  An easy way to eat these little delights is to lay it on its side and slice it long ways, so the pepper lays open to reveal the yummy insides.

The Verdict

This recipe is a keeper!!  OH SO EASY because you don't have to cook ANYTHING before hand.  Usually when I use ground turkey I've already cooked it.  I used microwave rice (pop in the microwave and it's done) so literally the worse part of prep was listening to Little One whine while I was preparing everything.  Guess he wanted some cheese to go with that whine. Boo.  I digress.  Actually, I shot pepper seeds all over my kitchen until I realized that it would be easier to cut the seed pod off if I used a sawing motion instead of a full blown chop.  Haha.  Now that was funny.  But, let me tell you, even Little One (14 months this week) gobbled this recipe right up. EVEN THE PEPPER!  I know, right?!  I think I had maybe half of my dinner!  The parmesan cheese added a nice tangy, salty flavor, since they were a little bland for my taste.  But it was worth it to have something that DH and I AND Little One could all eat.  Why is it that he never eats what I think he'll love and always devours what I don't make enough of!?  Haha!  Next time I'll make 6 peppers in the big crock pot.  Enjoy any additional add-ins... maybe spinach? Or quinoa instead of rice?  Make a southwest version with some black beans, corn, rice, and turkey.  There are lots of possibilities here... and literally 5 minutes worth of work!  Gotta love recipes like these.  Yes-sir-ree!