Stuffed Mini-Peppers

Guests still home after Thanksgiving?? Bored of eating leftovers?? Not in a mood to cook anything tedious?? Here is the perfect solution for all of these problems!

Try these stuffed mini-peppers that use ingredients that you already have in your kitchen, doesn't take long to put-together & is a crowd-pleaser!!

When I made these, I ate half a dozen of them right when they came out of the oven!! My husband loved them and so did everybody else! It was gone before I knew it. The best part: it is also a great make-ahead item for get-to-gethers! You can stuff the peppers and keep it in the refrigerator a day ahead and bake it just before guests arrive. Or, you could bake it and keep it in the fridge couple of days ahead of time and then just warm it up when your guests arrive & serve it piping hot! Your guests will be quite impressed: I guarantee!!

Do try it. You will love it!

Servings: 8-10

Prep time: 15 minsCook time: 8-10 minsTotal time: 23-25 mins

Ingredients:

Sweet Mini-peppers: 16-18 nos
Low fat cream cheese: 1 package ( 8 oz or 222gms)
Dried Italian herbs : 1/2 tsp
Garlic cloves: 2, minced
Black pepper: 1/4 tsp, freshly ground.
Cilantro/coriander leaves: 1 tbsp ( freshly chopped)
Olive oil : to drizzle

Method:

Take the cream cheese in a bowl. Whip it lightly using a fork until softened and creamy. To this, add the dried herbs, cilantro, black pepper & mix well. Keep aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 deg F.

Arrange a baking sheet lined with foil or parchment paper.

Wash and dry the peppers. Slice it into 2 without cutting the stem. You will end up with one half of the pepper with the stem and the other half without the stem. Remove the seeds and discard them.

Fill each of the halves with the cream cheese mixture prepared earlier. Arrange the peppers on the baking sheet in a single layer with the filled side facing up.

Lightly drizzle olive oil in the peppers. Place the tray on the middle rack of the oven. Bake at 350 degF or 180 degree Celsius for 8-10 mins.

Serve hot!

Enjoy!

Cooking made easy:

The peppers used for this dish are sweet Mini-peppers. You can choose other kind of peppers that are not too "hot" or "spicy".

I have altered this recipe at times and added a kick to it by adding finely chopped jalapeños to the cream cheese mixture.

You can also use other healthier options like quinoa salad for the stuffed peppers. The choice is yours.

Tip for healthier living:

I have made this recipe healthier by substituting low-fat cream cheese instead of the regular cream cheese. This is one example for how you can indulge in regular food/treats by altering it slightly to make it much healthier for you and your family.