SERVES: 6

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 cups cooked white rice (approx. 1 1/4 cups regular medium grain dry rice)
• 6 large peppers (any color)
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 cup well drained canned diced tomatoes
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley (optional)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Approx. 1 1/2 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese
• Scant 1/2 cup BBQ sauce
• Marinara sauce to serve
• Olive oil for sauteing veggies

PROCEDURE:

Get the rice going and preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Cut the top 1/2-3/4 inch off of the peppers and deseed them. Add them to a large, deep pot with about 1/2 inch water, turn the heat to high and put a lid on top.

The idea is to let the peppers steam along for 4-5 minutes to soften up a bit and, while that is happening, dice the pepper tops, dice 1 medium sized onion and mince 1-2 cloves of garlic.

Take the peppers out of the pan, dry the pan, add a splash of olive oil and saute the pepper tops, onions and garlic until they soften up.

They'll cook down quite a bit and, once they have, add 1 pound of ground beef to the pan. Cook that until it is just cooked through and turn the heat off.

Let that cool down for 4-5 minutes and then add the 3 cups of cooked white rice, 1/2 cup well drained canned diced tomatoes, a scant 1/2 cup BBQ sauce, 1 large egg, about 1/3 cup optional fresh chopped parsley, salt and pepper to taste and mix it up.

Generously stuff the peppers with that mixture and place them into a 9X13-inch baking dish. Add 1/2 cup water to the bottom of the baking dish, sprinkle the grated Monterey Jack cheese over the top and place the baking dish on the center rack of the preheated oven.

They'll take just about 25-30 minutes to bake. They'll be a nice golden brown on top and then serve them with a little warm marinara sauce.

HINTS:

Depending on the size of the peppers, you may have more filling than you need. Just heat that separately and serve underneath the stuffed peppers.