Black Bean Stuffed Peppers

I was in the mood for a meatless meal so I came up with this recipe for stuffed red peppers.  This recipe has a bit of a kick.  My husband likes a lot of flavor so he thought it could be even spicier, but I thought it was about right.  This recipe yields 6 servings at approximately 255 calories/serving.  Enjoy!

Black Bean Stuffed Peppers

1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup chopped green peppers
1/2 cup chopped onions
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped
1/2 cup chopped carrots
2 cups cooked brown rice
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon paprika
Pinch of salt and pepper
2 10 oz. cans Rotel, Diced tomatoes with Lime Juice & Cilantro
1 16 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
2/3 cup corn, thawed
3/4 cup shredded reduced fat monterey jack cheese (Or try Sargento Reduced Fat 4 Cheese Mexican)
6 red peppers, sliced in half lengthwise
1 1/2 cups water

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Chop the jalapeno pepper into small pieces. Careful when handling the pepper. Remember to wear gloves. Even hand washing will not remove the potentially irritating juices from your skin. Remove the seeds and veins from the pepper before chopping.





Heat the olive oil in a skillet and add the garlic, chopped onions, green peppers, jalepeno pepper and carrots.  Saute several minutes over medium heat until the vegetables have softened. 

Rinse and drain can of black beans.

 

Combine the brown rice, fresh cilantro, spices, diced tomatoes, black beans, and corn.

Add 1 1/2 cups water to the bottom of each baking dish used.  Place the lengthwise sliced peppers in the baking dish.  Spoon the rice and bean mixture into each pepper half.  Sprinkle with grated cheese.

Bake in a preheated oven for about 30 minutes or until the peppers reach the desired level of tenderness.  Enjoy!

Jalapeno Cheddar Skillet Cornbread

I experimented and came up with a recipe for skillet cornbread.  I prefer to use whole wheat flour in recipes whenever possible.  However, I discovered that in this recipe, adding some white flour helped to achieve a lighter texture for the cornbread so that it was not too dense.  On my first attempt I used only whole wheat flour and the result was that the cornbread was a little heavier than I would have liked.  To keep the recipe lowfat, I used fat free cheddar cheese and lowfat buttermilk.  This recipe yields 9 servings of cornbread at approximately 252 calories/serving.

Jalapeno Cheddar Skillet Cornbread

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
2 Jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups lowfat buttermilk
2 eggs, beaten
2 Tablespoons honey
1/4 cup Shredded fat free cheddar cheese
1 cup corn kernels
1 small red pepper, diced
1 1/4 cups cornmeal
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup white flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon paprika

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Chop the jalapeno pepper into small pieces. Careful when handling the pepper. Remember to wear gloves. Even hand washing will not remove the potentially irritating juices from your skin. Remove the seeds and veins from the pepper before chopping.

Spray a 10" cast iron skillet with nonstick cooking spray.  Add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil to the skillet and saute the jalapeno peppers over medium heat until softened.  Leave peppers in skillet.

In a seperate bowl whisk together 1/4 cup vegetable oil, the buttermilk, the beaten eggs, honey, cheddar cheese, corn, and diced red pepper. In another bowl combine the cornmeal, whole wheat flour, white flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and paprika.  Stir to combine.



Add flour mixture to buttermilk and oil mixture.  Stir to combine.



Pour prepared mixture into skillet with sauteed jalepeno peppers.  Mix together to distribute jalapeno peppers into cornbread.

  

Place in preheated 425 degree oven.  Bake for approximately 25-30 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cut into wedges.

Enjoy!