These stuffed green bell peppers are easy to make, healthy, and can be made ahead of time. The green pepper is loaded with vitamin C.  One pepper supplies over 100% of the daily recommended vitamin C.  Peppers are low in calories, virtually no fat, and low in carbohydrates. The pepper is a pretty amazing food. 

Stuffed green peppers are pleasing to the eye and the mouth. I love the different colors of peppers; red, yellow, orange, purple, and green.  I cut up different colors of raw peppers for my vegetable platters when I entertain. 

Some colors of peppers.

Peppers are native to South America, Central America, and Mexico.  Mexico is one of the major producers of peppers in the world today.  In 1493 the seeds were carried to Spain and from there spread all over Europe and later to Asia. You can read more about peppers at the Wikipedia site below. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_pepper

I recently found my mothers old Italian cookbook in the attic and seeing it brought back a flood of food memories. As I carefully flipped through the pages, some with old food spots on them, I could smell the memories. Each page held a snippet of time from the 1960’s in my mother’s kitchen.  I thought my mother invented all these Italian recipes when I was a child. She used that cookbook as her kitchen bible.

My mom had written her own cookbook before her car accident. She titled it, “Angelina’s Italian Cookbook”. My mom is recovering after several months of rehabilitation.  I want to dedicate this column to my dear mom. This year she lost her husband of 25 years and felt that life was over. After some time passed she met a nice man, her neighbor, and started a close friendship.  He became ill and when he went in the hospital she brought him some Italian food and on her way home she was in a serious car accident.  She broke her neck and was in the hospital for many weeks. I can not remember ever being so scared and helpless. My mom is the rock in my life.

My mom was transferred to a rehabilitation home for several months. While she was at the rehabilitation home she did not know that right down the hallway, in another room, was her new friend. He had also been transferred there from his hospital stay. One evening as he was walking in the hallway he heard my mother’s voice coming from her room and both of them were amazed at the course of events. They were reunited and had another chance at love even if it the days were numbered.  He would visit her as often as he could and comfort her, hold her hand, and tell her he loved her as she was in bad physical and emotional shape. I think the hand of God was on both of them.  This man gave my mom the hope to survive and the will to live.  Her pain was so great. We all waited and prayed.

My mom’s friend passed away a few weeks ago and a piece of mom’s heart went with him. My mother is recovering at home now and feels that she was blessed that someone came into her life, however brief, and was her angel. She is the one I call when I need recipe advice or just to call and talk. We may be an ocean apart but my mother is a part of me no matter where she is. Now back to the recipe.

• 4  green bell peppers
• ¾  cup cooked rice,  white or brown
• 1 lb. ground beef 
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 2 Tablespoons minced onion
• 1 Tablespoon minced fresh parsley or dry parsley
• ¼ cup minced celery (to be used around peppers while baking)
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ cups canned chopped tomatoes (to be used around peppers while baking)
• 1 jar of prepared spaghetti sauce (Ragu, Bertolli, etc) Optional for pouring on top of the peppers
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil (to be used around peppers while baking)
• 2 quart round glass baking dish or 8x8 inch aluminum pan

Use a sharp knife to carefully cut the top off the green bell pepper. 

Rinse and cut the stem from each green pepper.  Throw away the top of the pepper.  Scoop out all the seeds and some of the white fibers of the pepper. Set peppers aside.

Side view inside a green bell pepper. Take all the seeds out.

Drop peppers into boiling salted water to cover them and boil 5 minutes. Remove peppers from the water, invert them and set aside to drain.

Cook the instant rice or make fresh rice.  I use instant brown rice that cooks in 5 minutes. 

I added the parsley and chopped onions as the meat is cooking.

• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1 lb. ground beef
• 2 Tbl minced onion
• 1 Tbl minced fresh parsley or dried parsley
• ¼ tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. black pepper to taste

Adding the rice to the cooked ground beef.

Rice and ground beef mixture.

Stuffing a green pepper.

Mix ground beef in the pan with cooked rice. Lightly fill peppers with rice-meat mixture, heaping slightly.  Place into baking dish.

Pour around peppers a mixture of:

• 1 ½ cups chopped drained, canned tomatoes
• ¼ cup water
• ¼ cup finely chopped celery
• 1 Tbl olive oil
• ½  tsp salt
• ¼ tsp black pepper

The chopped celery and canned diced tomatoes in the pan. Spagetti sauce over the peppers.

When this celery and tomato mixture is cooking the smells from the oven are wonderful. The celery and tomatoes get soft and create a sauce to be poured over the green peppers before serving.

Place on top of each pepper a few strips of sliced mozzarella cheese before baking.

Before the cooked sauce is poured over the tomatoes.

Cover the top of the peppers with a loose piece of aluminum. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30-40 minutes. When the peppers are soft to the touch they are ready to be removed from the oven.  Serve them with a generous scoop of the tomato mixture in the pan.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese if you like. 

I hope you enjoy this recipe as I did while making it. Please rate my column and add a comment or email me.  I am living my dream by writing and having fun too. Remember to make an extra pepper to share with someone and spread the Aloha Spirit where ever you are.

A special thanks to the staff home economists at the Chicago Culinary Arts Institute in Chicago for their cookbook, “The Italian Cookbook” first printed in 1954.  If this cookbook had not been written, I might not have eaten so well in my childhood.