Stuffed Peppers in the Crock Pot

Every Thursday night is raft night at our pool, but I wasn't really thinking about that when I prepped my dinner for the evening.  What I was thinking about was how I wanted something easy and tasty to make that I could put together in the morning, so I didn't have to cook later in the day. That is the perfect description for this recipe.  There is very little chopping and preparation is fast. What is really cool is that it looks like more time was spent on it.

But is it pool food? Well, after I started putting this together a friend called and mentioned raft night, which is one of my daughter's favorite pool events, so I decided we would go.  How to get our dinner to the pool?  Lug the crock pot?  Transfer the peppers to a Tupperware container, but how to keep it hot?  I have the perfect solution.  A few years ago my mom gave me an insulated dish with a locking lid. There are no markings on it anywhere, so I am not sure if it is this brand or not but check out these bowls by ThermoKing. When I first got it I wasn't sure how I was going to use it, but this summer I figured it out. This bowl has been a lifesaver for me when it comes to bringing dinner to the pool.  It keeps things hot for hours. So yes, these peppers are now considered pool food!

As for the recipe, I adapted this version from an old family recipe that I grew up with. It was a good recipe without tweaking, but since it used minute rice, which I don't have in my kitchen, I needed to make at least one revision.  So, of course further tweaking ensued. I started with brown rice, which I cooked in vegetable broth for additional flavor. I also added carrots, fresh parsley, Worcestershire sauce, garlic and Parmesan cheese.  My mom always made this in the oven and since I was going the crock pot route I wanted to kick up the flavor a bit. Plus the brown rice and carrots give it a nutritional boost.

I apologize for only having a precooked pic, in our rush to get to the pool I forgot to take another picture before pulling the peppers out of the pot.  Don' t worry it looked pretty much the same, only cooked.

Crock Pot Stuffed Peppers

Serving Size  : 4 (Note on serving size, this recipe is set up as one whole pepper per serving and that is what the nutritional analysis reflects. But I think a half of a pepper is more reasonable serving.)

4 large  green peppers

1/2 medium  onion -- chopped fine

1 1/2 pounds  ground beef, extra lean

8 ounces  tomato sauce

1 large  egg

1 1/2 cups  cooked brown rice

1/2 teaspoon  fresh parsley -- chopped fine

salt

pepper

1/3 cup  Parmesan cheese -- shredded

1 teaspoon  Worcestershire sauce

2 medium  carrots -- shredded

1 clove  garlic -- pressed

6 ounces  tomato paste

• Wash green peppers, cut tops off and remove ribs and seeds. Place in crock pot.
• In a large bowl, mix the remaining ingredients except the tomato paste.
• Stuff the peppers with the ground beef mixture.
• Spread tomato paste on the top of each pepper.
• Add about an inch of water to the bottom of the crock pot.
• Cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 4-5 hours.

Per Serving: 636 Calories; 34g Fat (47.1% calories from fat); 42g Protein; 43g Carbohydrate; 7g Dietary Fiber; 176mg Cholesterol; 962mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 5 Lean Meat; 4 1/2 Vegetable; 3 1/2 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.