Hey gang. This week I made stuffed peppers for lunch and they’re so good. I felt like this is a good one to share because they’re super easy to make/prep for the week and I haven’t done a Mexican style meal yet.

• I saved buckets of time using canned black beans and instant spanish rice. Because of the #coronacraziness there wasn’t a whole lot to work with and this is basically what I could get my hands on. It worked super well though and I honestly think trying to make everything from scratch – while ideal in terms of controlling ingredients – would take too much time. And I don’t know about you but when I’m ready to eat I need to EAT. This is what I used

• The spicy black beans weren’t actually spicy at all which is why I decided to add some red pepper flakes but if you don’t love spicy foods then I would leave it as is.
• To make this vegan omit the sprankling of cheezo per usual (also gotta look for vegan spanish rice)
• This recipe is the most simplified version of this, but I think adding fresh tomato on top or some avocado and sour cream would be heavenly.
• Let’s get into it

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 4 bell peppers (I bought both red and orange)
• 1 packet of Spanish ready rice
• 1 can of black beans
• 1 sweet yellow onion
• Mexican shredded cheese
• red pepper flakes
• garlic powder
• taco sauce of choice
• cilantro
• lime juice

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Dice the onion and throw into a pan on medium high heat. Salt the onion to help it along, and sweat until translucent.
2. Open the can of beans and drain about half the liquid. Once the onions are translucent, add the beans and bean liquid to the pan along with a bit of garlic powder and the red pepper flakes. Turn the heat down to medium.
3. Add the rice to the pan and stir everything together. Wait patiently for the rice and beans to heat through. You may need to add a splash of water to help the rice steam.

4. Prep your bell pepper. Cut a tiny piece off the bottom so the pepper can stand upright on the baking sheet. Cut off the top and remove the seeds and white parts of the pepper (mine has a hole in the bottom cause I’m a fool but it’s no biggie).

5. Once the beans and rice is heated through, taste for seasoning. I added a bit of salt and lime juice but you may not need to. Chop up cilantro and stir it in. Then spoon some of the beans and rice into your pepper. Top with a generous sprinkling of cheese. (It’s okay if the pepper is overstuffed a little)

6. Serve with a drizzle of taco sauce and more cilantro!

That’s it! Super simple and super yummy. I store my beans and rice in the fridge until I’m ready to eat, then I preheat the oven and prep the pepper and it’s so fast. I hope you give this a try!