Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed peppers are a colorful side dish to add to a meal or to serve as a meal. The above is an orange stuffed pepper that one of my sister's made and below are yellow and green stuffed peppers that my other sister made.

I ate these as a snack one afternoon and was quite surprised as they are different from other stuffed peppers that I have eaten. The peppers were not as soft and the stuffing was not quite as moist as what I am used to, but they were still delicious.

Ingredients:

4 bell peppers (any color you like)
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped celery

1/4 cup chopped carrot
1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. turmeric
2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon pepper
1 egg

1 pound lean ground beef or chicken

1 1/2 cups long-grain rice, cooked (or cooked quinoa)

Instructions:

Cut off the top of each pepper

Remove the seeds and membranes

Chop up edible part of the tops and put aside.

Rinse peppers under cold water. Put them aside.

Heat olive oil in a large pan.

Sauté chopped pepper tops, onion, celery and carrot for about 3 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.

Add garlic, oregano, basil, cumin, turmeric, salt, and pepper. Mix well, then remove from heat.

In a large mixing bowl, lightly beat the egg.

Mix in ground beef and cooked rice. Then mix in vegetable mixture.

Stuff peppers with the mixture and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake at 350° F for 30-40 minutes.

Mini Quiche

Mini quiche are one of my favorite appetizers for any get together. I also enjoy them as a snack or part of breakfast sometimes.

Ingredients:

For the filling:

1 1/2 tbsp. butter

1/2 of a small onion, minced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 of a small green pepper, seeded and finely chopped

1/4 cup of parmesan cheese

1/4 cup of cheddar cheese

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

For the pastry dough (shell):

In a Food Processor,pulse together:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
and 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter (cut into cubes)

Pulse until the mixture is crumbly.

Add one lightly beaten egg and pulse 3 times.

Sprinkle 2 tbsp. of icy cold water into the mixture and pulse until the dough is formed.

If the dough is too dry, add more cold water, one teaspoon at a time.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and form it into a ball.

Divide the dough in half and roll out the first half to 1/8 of an inch thick. Add more flour to your work surface as needed.

Using a 2 inch round cookie cutter, cut little rounds out of the dough.

Line a mini muffin pan with the dough rounds.

Re-roll the scraps as well as the second ball of dough and cut out more dough rounds, lining the mini muffin pans as the rounds are formed.

There should be 48 dough rounds all together.

*I used two, 24 cup mini muffin pans. If you have the 12 cup mini muffin pans, you will need 4 of them. If you only have enough for 24 cups, feel free to leave the second ball of dough to cut out while the first set of mini quiche are baking.

Instructions:

Melt the butter in a small pan and sautee the onions and garlic until tender.

Combine the onions, garlic, cheeses and green pepper in a bowl.

In a seperate bowl, whisk the eggs until blended, then whisk in the cream, salt and pepper.

Add the cheese mixture to the egg mixture and whisk to combine.

Pour one tablespoon of the filling into each pastry shell.

Bake for approximately 20 minutes. (Until golden brown)

Cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes, then remove the quiches from the muffin pan.

Pasta Salad

Pasta salad is one of my favorite foods to make. It is very simple to make and can be eaten as a side dish, snack or meal. There are so many variations making it fun and different each time.
Ingredients:

2 cups pasta (fusili, macaroni or penne)

1 1/2 cups fresh julienned vegetables of your choice (peppers, carrots, cucumber, chopped celery)

1/4 cup minced onion

1/3 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup of your favorite salad dressing

1 tbsp. mustard

1 tbsp. vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

1 can of tuna (optional)

Instructions:

Boil and drain pasta.

Allow the pasta to cool while preparing the vegetables.

In a large bowl, mix all of the ingredients together.

Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 2 days.