stuffed peppers using leftovers

stuffed peppers using leftoversHi there!  I’m back from what seems eons since I last posted or even thought of posting.  How did August get so crazy that I only posted once?  Well, for starters our house went on the market in June and in the first week of August we received an offer (yay!).  The catch, though, was an ultra fast closing date – August 31st!  That in itself wouldn’t have been an issue if we hadn’t planned to be away the last two weeks in August.  So we countered and ended up changing the closing date to September 11th.  We arrived back from our trip late on the 1st of September and moved into our new home on the 8th; we don’t mess around!

I’ve been cleaning two houses for the last two weeks and meal prep took a backseat.  Having said that, I did take some photos prior to our holiday and if you’re like us, we run the fridge down.  I purchased long sweet peppers and had some leftover barbequed meat and veggies that needed to be use before our holiday.  I decided on stuffed peppers using leftovers.

Use my recipe as a loose guide and fill the cavities of the peppers with whatever food you have in your refrigerator before it spoils.  Peppers are a natural cooking vessel and are so versatile you can stuff them with practically anything!  Stuffed peppers using leftovers are loaded with flavour and you’ve helped cut back on fridge waste.  Win-win!

Serves 2 to 4

2 to 4 long sweet peppers, cut in half lengthways and seeds scooped out
1 to 2 garlic cloves, chopped
cherry tomatoes, roughly chopped
handful Italian parsley, chopped
1 cup cooked steak, chopped
1 small yellow or green zucchini, chopped
1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
1 small onion, chopped
feta cheese
extra-virgin olive oil
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350f (180c).

In a frying pan over medium heat, add a splash of olive oil and add onions.  Cook until slightly soft before adding zucchini and sun-dried tomaotes.  Stir-fry until zucchini becomes al dente and remove from heat.  In a large mixing bowl add cooked zucchini and toss with garlic then add steak, tomatoes, and parsley.  Give this a toss with tongs then crumble in feta cheese.  I left the amount out as each cook knows how much they like to add but if you’re not sure, start with a half cup, toss to combine and then taste.

Lay peppers on a baking tray.  Add a small splash of extra-virgin olive oil and smear all over.  Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Sometimes, if I’m craving cheese, I’ll add a small amount first before filling the pepper.  Divide filling equally between peppers and bake in oven 30 minutes.

The Culinary Chase’s Note:  Remove from oven and sprinkle with crumbled feta.  Enjoy!

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