Southwestern Stuffed Peppers

Cinco de Mayo and my cinco decade.

Southwestern Stuffed Peppers, photo and recipe by me, Anna Vocino

It’s Cinco De Mayo, so of course I’m gonna post a taco seasoning inspired recipe, but I never need an excuse to eat Mexican food. I can eat it year round. And I do.

In a few days I will be entering my fifth decade on this planet, and I feel so lucky that I found NSNG®/low carb/keto/whatever we’re calling it these days. I’ve changed the trajectory of my health journey, and now that the realities of age are upon me, I can’t imagine starting a new decade without knowing what I now know about the food we eat.

I hope y’all grab some Eat Happy Kitchen Taco Seasoning (or make your own out of Eat Happy) and make this recipe. It’s good, it’s easy, it’s satisfying. Then you can make a low(er) carb margarita (recipe here and another in Eat Happy Too).

Lastly, if you don’t mind, raise that glass to yours truly, and I bet my ears will tingle in acknowledgment.

As always, here’s a downloadable, printable PDF of this recipe.

SOUTHWESTERN STUFFED PEPPERS

(Serves 4-6)

• 4 large red bell peppers (tops cut off and inner seeds, etc, discarded), halved

• 1/2 medium onion, diced

• 1 pound ground beef

• 4 tablespoons Eat Happy Kitchen Taco Seasoning (or use your own or find a store-bought without sugars or grains)

• 1 tablespoon tomato paste

• 1 12-16 ounce bag cauliflower rice

• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese or Colby Jack cheese, optional for garnish

• 3 green onions, palest white and green part only, chopped, for garnish

• Sour cream and pickled jalapeños, for garnish

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake bell pepper halves in oven 15-20 minutes, until starting to soften.

While peppers are cooking, heat a large, flat-bottomed sauté pan to medium high heat and cook onion and beef until meat is browned, using a spatula to break up the beef into small pieces.

Cut the corner of the bag of cauliflower rice and microwave 3 minutes on high. Pour pre-cooked cauliflower rice directly into pan with beef and onion and toss. Add Eat Happy Kitchen Taco Seasoning and tomato paste and stir to mix in evenly. Let stand 4-5 minutes while waiting for bell peppers to par-bake.

Remove bell peppers from oven. Make sure to discard any excess water that might be sitting in the bottom of the peppers. Stuff peppers with meat filling. Return to oven and cook 15 minutes, until peppers soften more and meat mixture is heated through. Remove from oven and add optional cheese and put back in oven 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Remove from oven and let stand a few minutes. Garnish with green onions, a dollop of sour cream, and pickled jalapeños, then serve immediately.