Foodie Friday: Stuffed Bell Peppers

Before I delve into these delicious stuffed bell peppers (we made these in July and I STILL remember how great they tasted), let me give you a little background on Foodie Friday!

When Andrea and I decided to move in together (we have the sweetest little house), we came up with the idea for Foodie Friday. Neither of us are big fans of going out on Fridays. Dinner is about all I can  muster. So we thought, why not stay in and cook? Or maybe sometimes go try a new restaurant? Add to that a glass of wine and good conversation. Perfect Friday night solution!

Our very first Foodie Friday occurred before we even moved in together. We couldn't wait ... we were pretty excited about the idea!

Stuffed Bell Peppers (based on this recipe I found at this great blog --- We added and subtracted a few things so our version is listed below)

• Ingredients:
• 3 bell peppers halved and seeded 
• 1 bell peppers - diced into small pieces 
• 1 zucchini - diced into small pieces
• 1 onion - diced into small pieces
• 4 cloves garlic - minced 
• 1 c frozen corn 
• 1 small tomato - diced into small pieces
• 1 cup of mushrooms - diced into small pieces
• 2 tbs parsley 
• 3/4 c panko breadcrumbs  - we used garlic and herb flavored
• salt 
• pepper 
• 1 package of light cream cheese (3 oz.)
• 1 tbs essence 
• 3 tbs olive oil 
• 2 tbs butter 
• 1/4 c parmesan (to start - decide if you want more based on taste)  plus more for sprinkling 

I'm not sure how we managed to not eat all of this

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
After heating butter and olive oil in a pan on the stove, saute the onions over med high heat until translucent. 
Add garlic and cook til fragrant.  
Add the mushrooms and saute til soft. 
Add the rest of the vegetables. Saute until tender.
Then add salt, pepper and essence. 
Slowly add cream cheese until entire package is added to the vegetable mixture.
 Add parsley and breadcrumbs. Then add parmesan and take off heat.

Stuff the peppers with the vegetable-cream cheese mixture. Place in a baking dish coated with a little olive oil. Bake until peppers are softened (about 20-25 minutes).
A few minutes before the peppers are done - I recommend at about 5 minutes left - sprinkle parmesan on top of the peppers and finish baking.


Voila! Finished! And let me tell you, the leftovers are great as well. You can stick the peppers back in the oven for about five minutes or, if you are lazy like I am, just nuke them in the microwave for a few minutes!

Happy Eating!
Deepika