Mexican Stuffed Peppers Recipe (or "How to turn a culinary disaster into a success!")

Today, I decided to try a recipe I found online for Greek Feta/Orzo Stuffed Peppers. It looked like a great recipe on paper – had sundried tomatoes, orzo, feta, spinach, red wine vinegar… etc. But I think the proportions were all off. The amount of red wine vinegar that was recommended ended up making the filling for the peppers so pungent it was inedible! It was such a disaster! I had spent one hour roasting the peppers, making the filling, etc…. and it was 8pm with no dinner. Luckily, I had tasted the filling before I stuffed the peppers, so I could still salvage the roasted peppers. Unfortunately, we had very little left in our fridge… and I was so frustrated it was hard to be creative with what we had left! 3 peppers and no filling. So I started going through our pantry/fridge and I found: frozen corn, brown rice, taco seasoning, refried black beans, cheese and salsa. And voila! A super easy, healthy, dinner-saving recipe was born The recipe is below. Hope you enjoy it!

Ingredients

• 3 bell peppers (I had one yellow, one orange and one red – but any colors will do)
• 1 can refried black beans
• 3/4 cup brown rice
• Mexican cheese blend
• Salsa (I love Pace Picante!)
• Frozen corn
• Cumin
• Chili Powder
• Salt

Directions

1. Roast the peppers under a broiler (350 degrees for 5 min – or until the top of the peppers begins to blacken). At the same time, cook the brown rice (I used minute brown rice and just followed the directions on the package for 1 cup!)

2. Cut off the tops of the peppers, take out the seeds/etc. Set aside.

3. Heat the corn in a microwave safe bowl (or on the stovetop). I used about 3/4 cup of corn. Once warmed, stir in ~1/2 tsp cumin, ~1/2 tsp chili powder and 1/8-1/4 tsp salt. Set aside

4. Heat the refried black beans on the stove, add taco seasoning to taste (I used about 1/3 of the packet).

5. Spread the black beans at the bottom and along the sides of each pepper. Top with corn mixture, then with brown rice, then with corn again. Spoon 1 Tbsp Mexican cheese blend on top of each pepper. Broil at 350 degrees on low for 5 min until cheese is melted and bubbly. Serve with salsa and/or guacamole. Enjoy!!

[Via http://pickyeaterblog.wordpress.com]