Stuffed Bell Peppers - Video Recipe

My colorful and easy-to-make recipe uses Bell Peppers stuffed with a couple sauteed veggies, some uncooked rice, and ground meat.

I guess you can call this a Meatloaf wrapped in Bell Pepper. Roasted, Bell Peppers are tender, tasty, and almost sweet. This is a light meal if you use ground turkey or chicken.

When you bake the covered Stuffed Bell Peppers for an hour and a half, they steam uncooked rice until tender. The rice plumps up and absorbs surrounding flavors for a delicious entree.

I like to bake a few at a time to freeze for later. Serve one of them with a favorite side and you have a satisfying meal. Or just eat one on its own as there is plenty of protein, veggies, and carbs, all in one bite!

I often find Bell Peppers on sale at regular grocery stores, and especially at my local Latin market.

Red, yellow and orange Bell Peppers usually cost more for some reason. I usually make this recipe with cheaper green bell peppers, but this time I went for it to introduce color into my video recipe.

Raphs Grocery Store

Superior Grocers

To stuff a Bell Pepper I slice around the stem and pull off the top. Most of the seeds will come out. If needed slice out any that hold on to the interior. I also cut away the white part of the inside "ribs." It doesn't have to be perfect, just remove most of the seeds and top stem.

You can use any color on sale. Red, orange or yellow Bell Peppers are a little sweeter than green ones. But anytime you roast or saute a bell pepper it will sweeten up, even green ones.

The most expensive items are mushrooms and ground meat. But even these come on sale from time to time. Ground meat, I can freeze and defrost when mushroom shows up at my local 99c only Stores.

I even find small amounts of ground meat (let's say for one or two Stuffed Bell Peppers) at my local Dollar Tree. You can use low-fat ground turkey or chicken.

Click on any photo to see larger. 

Mushroom are almost always at my local 99c only Stores. They come in 4 or 5-ounce packages. You could just pick out a couple of whole mushrooms from your fave grocery store. Add more or less or just leave them out. The sauteed onion and garlic with rice are enough stuffing.

Rice is cheap at any store, you can use white, brown or any type you can find on sale. If you have leftover cooked rice then use that.

I add an egg or two and a little milk to dampen the stuffing, so the raw rice will steam tender. The main thing when baking Stuffed Bell Peppers are to cover them well, so the rice will cook through without drying out.

You will have a few crunchy rice kernels on top of Stuffed Bell Peppers, but that's okay, it's just a little extra texture. But you can be sure the interior will have cooked and flavorful rice. If you have leftover cooked rice it's okay to use it, too.

My latest video recipe is a favorite of mine and I make it when bell peppers and ground meat comes on sale. It's an easy and cheap way to extend more and more expensive ground protein. So make a batch of my Stuffed Bell Peppers, and go ahead a freeze them for later, too.

Stuffed Bell Peppers - Video

Play it here, video runs 3 minutes, 17 seconds.

My YouTube video link for viewing or embedding, just click here.

Ingredients (1 or 2 per serving)

• 1 pound ground beef, pork, turkey or chicken.
• 4 to 5 bell peppers - medium to large any color. Green Bell Peppers are cheapest.
• Mushrooms sliced - a small package of about 5 ounces. Okay to use any type mushrooms you like. 
• 1/2 cup rice - okay to use 1 cup cooked rice.
• 1/2 onion - chopped
• 1 large egg - or 2 small eggs.
• Worcestershire Sauce 1 teaspoon - optional. Okay to use Soy Sauce. 
•  Garlic 1 teaspoon - chopped, from the jar, fresh or even dried.
• 1/4 cup milk - cream or favorite broth.
•  Black Pepper to taste - Worcestershire and Soy Sauce have enough salt for me.

Directions
Slice onion and mushrooms. I use garlic from a jar, so it's ready to cook, okay to use fresh garlic.

Add a little oil to a frying pan and saute chopped onion until soft, about 5 minutes. Next, add the sliced mushrooms and saute another 5 minutes, stirring. Finally, add garlic and saute for just a minute.

In a large bowl add the raw ground meat. Add sauteed veggies, uncooked rice, one or two eggs, and milk or broth.

Season with black pepper, I find Worcestershire Sauce and Soy Sauce are salty enough. Mix all the ingredients together. This is the stuffing for Bell Peppers.

 I used four to five large Bell Peppers. Depending on the size, I find that is enough with one pound of ground meat. Mainly you want to make sure all the Bell Peppers will fit in a covered baking dish. You can use a pan, just make sure to wrap or cover the peppers with foil.

 While you are sauteing veggies you can prepare the Bell Peppers.

To stuff a Bell Pepper, I slice around the stem and pull off the top. Most of the seeds will come out. If needed slice out any that hold on to the interior. I also cut away the white part of the inside "ribs." It doesn't have to be perfect, just remove most of the seeds and top stem.

Fill up Bell Peppers with the sauteed veggies and ground meat. If you have any leftover stuffing you can wrap it in foil and freeze for later, or just wrap it in foil and bake it with Bell Peppers, kinda like a Meatloaf.

Cover the Stuffed Bell Peppers and bake for 1 1/2 hours (90 minutes) at 350 degrees.

That's it, just remove from oven when done. I let them sit covered for 5 minutes or so to cool down a little.

Gazspacho - Veggie Soup Recipe Video

This recipe is for all you home gardeners! And my Gazpacho video is just in time for the end of summer vegetable harvest.

Even if you don't have a summer garden, all the veggies in this recipe are easily had from local farmers markets and roadside fruit and vegetable stands. I get my ingredients from a local Latin grocery store, too. All are for less than a buck per pound.

Click on any photo to see larger.

Tomatoes are the most expensive veggie, but they often come on sale somewhere. Cucumber and bell pepper are cheap, and onions are the cheapest veggie by far. I sometimes use garlic from the jar, but I also like a fresh chopped extra-pungent clove.

The other main ingredients are olive oil and vinegar. I get extra virgin olive oil in small bottles from my local 99c only Store and Dollar Tree. While not the best quality, hey it's good enough for me. And you can use any expensive olive oil, flavorful oil like avocado, or a nut-based one.

Gazpacho is a cold vegetable soup originally from Spain. They use Sherry Wine - use that if you can find it, but I find  Red Wine Vinegar is an easy substitution. It's okay to use any vinegar you have on hand like apple cider or white vinegar.

There is no cooking involved, all you do is roughly chop all the veggies to fit in a blender or food processor - you can use a hand blender. Pour in a half a cup of olive oil and a couple tablespoons of vinegar, then blend it all together for a minute or so, until smooth and creamy.

I like to serve Gazpacho chilled and topped with a sliced fresh herb like basil. I add a sprinkling of fine-chopped tomato and cucumber for extra color, and crunch.

The veggie balance is up to you. Some recipes call to peel and remove seeds from the cucumber. The cucumbers I've gotten lately are almost seedless, or the seeds are very small and soft. If you peel the cucumber the Gazpacho will be a brighter red color.

I used green bell pepper, but any color on sale will do. Red, yellow and orange bell peppers are a bit sweeter but more expensive.

Tomatoes are the main ingredient. So let them fully ripen on your kitchen counter or windowsill. I use a couple pounds of tomatoes, and you can use as much as you like with an extra-large crop to harvest. Adjust the veggie amounts to suit your tastes.

My patio garden tomatoes.

So get to chopping and blend my summer fresh Gazpacho Soup for a cool and refreshing appetizer or light lunch.

Gazpacho - Video

Play it here, video runs 2 minutes, 48 seconds.

My YouTube video link for viewing or embedding, just click here.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds tomato - roughly chopped, about 3 to 4 cups. I used 4 regular sized tomatoes.
• 1/2 onion - roughly chopped
• 1 bell pepper - remove seeds and white membrane.
• 1 cucumber - Some recipes just throw in a chopped and unpeeled cucumber with seeds. Okay to peel and remove seeds for a more colorful soup.
• 1 clove garlic - 1 teaspoon chopped. Fresh or from a jar.
• 2 tablespoons wine vinegar - usually sherry vinegar is used, but any type vinegar will do.
• 1/2 cup olive oil - okay to use any favorite flavorful oil.

Directions
 Chop veggies to fit in a blender or food processor. The veggies don't need to be fine chopped, just a quick couple slices will do. If you have a hand blender then put chopped veggies in a large bowl.

Remove seed and white membrane in the bell pepper. Some recipes say to remove cucumber skin and seed. The type I get recently have little to no seeds. If you peel the cucumber the Gazpacho will be brighter orange or red.

You can add or subtract the amount of garlic, onion, bell pepper and cucumber. Just make sure to add plenty of tomatoes! I do remove the stem part, but I keep the seeds.

Add veggies to a blender or food processor. Pour in a half cup of olive oil or favorite flavored oil. It's okay to add more or less olive oil, to suit your tastes.

Finally, add 2 tablespoons of vinegar. I use Red Wine Vinegar, but it's okay to use any you have on hand including balsamic vinegar. Add as much or as little as you like.

Some recipes call for adding a slice or two of bread to the blender for a thicker soup. I leave it out for this recipe.

Cover and blend it all together until smooth and creamy, about one minute.

Chill Gazpacho until ready to serve. I like to top my Gazpacho with a fresh sliced herb and a small amount of chopped veggies like tomato and cucumber, for added crunch and color.

Best Mushroom Cream Soup - Video Recipe

Fungus shouldn't taste this good. Cream and caramelized mushroom blend together perfectly. My rich and earthy Mushroom Cream Soup is meant to be shared on a cold wintry day.

I often find four ounce packages of brown crimini and portabella, along with regular white button mushrooms, at my local 99c only Stores, here in Los Angeles. Sorry to rub it in, but mushrooms are expensive, except in my Cheap$kate Chateau.

Click on any photo to see larger.

The rest of the ingredients are cheap enough. I saute onion along with the  mushrooms, and sweeten the soup with white wine and rich cream.

You can keep this recipe vegan by substituting cream with almond, cashue or soy milk. I'm not up on all the milk alternatives, so use what you like.

I add a couple cups of water to the soup, but you can use a favorite broth for an extra flavorful soup.

Can you keep it low calorie and leave out the rich cream? Heck yeah, it's just as tasty without cream.

But if you are feeling extravagant, and making this for a special occasion, like trying to impress, then go all the way...with extra cream!

Mushroom Cream Soup - VIDEO

Play it here, video runs 3 minute 10 seconds

My YouTube video link for viewing or embedding, just click here.

Ingredients (about 4-6 servings)
3 packages of mushrooms - I got 4 to 5 ounce packages of each: crimini, white button and portabella mushroom. Okay to use one type of mushroom, or any you can find on sale.
1 onion chopped - I used a cheap yellow onion.
1 cup white wine - optional. If you leave it out then just use broth or water instead.
1 cup heavy cream - okay to keep soup light and use low fat milk or a milk substitute. Even okay to leave out cream altogether.
2 cups water - or a favorite broth.
1 tablespoon vegetable oil - to saute onion and mushrooms.
Salt and pepper to taste.

Directions
Please note that I cooked this soup recipe in a large pot. If you use a standard smaller pot then cooking time for mushrooms may take longer than 5 minutes, more like 10 minutes. Mainly, just cook veggies until soft.

Chop one whole onion. Saute in pot with tablespoon of oil over medium heat. Cook and stir onions until soft, about 5 minutes.

Clean mushrooms if needed. (Wipe off dirt with a soft brush or napkin.)

For crimini or white button mushroom roughly slice. Okay to use pre-sliced mushrooms.

For larger portabella mushrooms whipe off any dirt. Once the portabella mushrooms are cleaned, slice them up. Doesn't matter how small the pieces, as they will end up in a blender or food processor.

Once onions are softened stir in the mushrooms. Cook them another 5 minutes until mushroom pieces are soft. May take longer to soften if you use a small pot - the more pan surface area the quicker everything cooks through.

Salt and pepper to taste any time during sauteing.

Mushrooms and onions will reduce in size considerably. Again if you use a small pot the mushroom may take 10 minutes to soften.

Pour in about a cup or white wine. 

Finally add 2 cups of water or a favorite broth. Mix liquid well. Bring soup up to a low simmer and cover the pot.

Simmer for about 15 minutes. You just want to finish cooking the mushrooms and onions until extra soft.

Now you are ready to finish up the Mushroom Cream Soup. Allow the soup to cool down so you can add it to a blender or food processor. Blending with hot liquid is asking for trouble. Let the soup cool down for at least 5 minutes.

Add soup to a blender and pulse/blend until smooth. It goes pretty quickly. I blended all my soup in about a minute. Okay to work in batches. I blended my soup in two batches.

Finally add blended soup to a pot. Stir in a cup of almond milk, whipping cream, or half and half. Okay to keep the soup light and add regular or low fat milk. You can use any favorite vegan milk substitute, since now all you are doing is a final soup warming up.

For an extra low calorie, and vegan, soup it's okay to leave out cream altogether.

Heat Mushroom Cream Soup until hot, about 15 minutes - that's it. I sometimes like to simmer the soup on low for half an hour or so, just to marry and deepen the flavors of onion and mushroom -- you know how it goes, soup and stew just get better over time. Add more liquid if necessary for any prolonged cooking.