Sweet & Sour Stuffed Peppers

The two best cookbooks I own (I don't own the Betty Crocker one, my grandma does) are "Vegan Planet" and "The Accidental Vegan". Don't worry, I didn't go vegan, I like cheese and chocolate too much for that. It's not that I like cooking, either and I do NOT like cleaning. (I think everyone already knew that) However, I do like eating!

My new favorite food to make is stuffed peppers, vegetarian for me, meaty for the grandparents. This is a combination of the stuffed peppers from both the cookbooks.

You will need:
the peppers
4 green peppers, cored and rinsed (you can use any color pepper you want, really)
2 cups of rice
2 cups of chili (homemade, which is what I used or canned)
1 cup shredded vegan cheese

the sauce
1 cup tomato juice
1 tbsp cider vinegar
1tbsp brown sugar or molasses
1 tsp chili powder


the recipe
1. preheat oven to 350
2. parboil the peppers for 5 minutes, rince and set aside
3. in a bowl, combine chili, rice, cheese (I don't use the cheese...especially not vegan, yuck), mix well.
4. fill peppers with with rice/chili mixture. place, upright, in a shallow baking dish.
5. in a separate bowl, combine sauce ingredients and mix together.
6. pour sauce mixture over and around the peppers.
7. bake for 30 minutes (or until hot).

Sometimes I add other things like pineapple chunks or mandarin oranges to jazz them up. the oranges are best added after baking, otherwise they fall apart.

There are some reasons I make these as much as I do. First, my grandpa loves them! He has problems chewing, so the mixture inside is really easy for him to eat. Next, it's a good way to use up the end of the chili. My grandparents don't like to throw food away, but don't always want to eat the leftovers for days on end. Buy putting the chili in the peppers, they don't usually realize it's "that damn chili that seems to multiply in the fridge'. It's also easy, takes just a few minutes to throw together and toss in the over. It seems I usually have all the ingredients at home too, the peppers are usually a bartering item, for either peaches, apples or tree clippings. (I have great neighbors!) And the leftovers are almost always better than the original serving!

I have leftover taco supplies, so I think there will be a "taco stuffed pepper" night soon.