Every now and again, I slap together a meal that the peanut gallery says..."that was really good, write this one down so you can make this one again Mom!"  Southwest Chipotle Stuffed Peppers is one of those meals.  Sweet red peppers stuffed with a southwest flavored whole grain mixture, ground sirloin, and chipotle salsa, and then topped with pepper-jack cheese and sprinkled with cilantro.   

Nice looking sweet red peppers just happened to be on sale at the store the other day, so I snatched some up, not really having a plan on how to use them.  As I shopped, I spotted Uncle Ben's® Ready Whole Grain Medley-Santa Fe flavor.  My mind started churning.  I always use the Brown Ready Rice when I make traditional stuffed peppers, and I thought, this particular rice would be awesome in some "southwest" inspired stuffed red peppers.  And I was right!

Next, I had to decide what to use as a sauce.  I made my way to the salsa aisle.  I am a huge fan of smokey chipotle, so I was drawn to Herdez® Salsa Chipotle.  It ended up being a great choice. This salsa does pack quite a bit of heat, so you could use any salsa you like in it's place, but we loved these stuffed peppers with this one.

I topped the stuffed peppers off with some spicy pepper-jack cheese...but you could use cheddar instead to tone down the heat if you want.

This dish is easy to throw together and full of flavor.  It really kicks ordinary stuffed peppers up a notch or two.

Southwest Chipotle Stuffed Peppers

By Renee's Kitchen Adventures

Ingredients

• 3 medium to large sized sweet red bell peppers, sliced in half, with stems and seeds removed.
• 1 pound ground sirloin (90/10)
• 1 large egg, slightly beaten
• 1-8.5oz. package of Uncle Ben's® Ready Whole Grain Medley (Sante Fe variety)
• 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 cup Herdez® Salsa chipotle, divided
• 6 slices of reduced fat Pepper-jack cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Instructions

1. Spray a 9" x 13" glass baking dish with cooking spray. Lay the pepper halves, skin side down, side by side. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, combine the ground sirloin, egg, entire package of Uncle Ben's® Ready Whole Grain Medley, cumin, and 1/3 cup of the salsa. Mix well. Divide meat mixture evenly between the 6 pepper halves. Top each pepper half with the remaining salsa. Cover tightly with foil.
3. Cook in oven until the peppers are tender and the meat is cooked through, about 60 to 90 minutes. Remove from oven, remove foil and top each pepper with a slice of the pepper-jack cheese. Turn oven from bake to broil. Broil for 3-5 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Top with chopped cilantro.

Prep Time: 00 hrs. 15 mins.

Cook time: 01 hrs. 30 mins.
Total time: 1 hrs. 45 mins.

Servings - 6   Serving Size - 1 stuffed pepper   Points Plus per Serving - 8 Points+
Calories - 311.9,   Total Fat - 13.9g,   Carb - 21g,   Protein - 25.5g,   Fiber - 3.7g

Printable Recipe 

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I gotta tell you, this was yum.  I wished I had made extra, because we had no leftovers!  The boys both had seconds.  It was so easy to slap together too.  I loved that there was beans and corn and spices already in the grain medley, so I needed to add very little to the meat to season it.  I always think red peppers taste better than green ones too!  

I'm so excited because I got to meet a fellow blogger today as she and her family passed through my area on their way to vacation!  Shelby of The Life and Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch!  More about that to come later!  It was so great to meet Shelby and her clan!  

I cannot believe it's almost June already!  Geesh.  Where do the days go?  June happens to be my favorite month of the year...so bring it on!