We really wanted a stuffed pepper and what better way to eat one than with the heart-healthy alternative to beef - bison? Stuffed Peppers has said to have been popular since the late 1800s, and there is a multitude of recipes that you can find anywhere on different cuisines and cultures of stuffed peppers. Traditionally they involve a bell pepper, rice, some sort of meat, and topped with melted cheese.
Ingredients:
1lb ground bison
4 bell peppers (we prefer red for the pop!)
1 cup minced onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 diced tomato
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 diced green pepper
1 cup brown rice
2 teaspoons parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Cheddar or fiesta cheese (optional)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. (We also recommend cooking your rice now depending on how long the brown rice will take to cook. We love using beef broth when we cook our rice!)
Cut off the tops from the bell peppers and carefully scoop out the inside. We don't want any holes in the pepper!
Place the peppers in a baking dish and put the top of the peppers on top of the peppers, then place foil on top of the peppers so the tops don't burn. We used foil dividers to keep the peppers up as well.
Bake the peppers for about 15 minutes then remove and let cool. In the meantime, heat a skillet and add the ground bison, garlic, and onion, and stir occasionally for about 4 minutes.
Stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, rice, parsley, salt, and pepper, and cook for another 4 minutes or so and stir occasionally. By this point, your bison may be looking almost done, but we'll be cooking it longer!
Divide the bison mixture between the peppers and put the peppers back in the dish. We do recommend keeping the foil barriers up so the peppers don't fall down.
Add the tops to the peppers and cook for around 20 minutes until the bison is done cooking.
Carefully take the peppers out and serve with cheese if desired!