Taste: 9
Ease of Prep: 8
Eyeball Test: 6
Rice/Black Bean Stuffed Bell Peppers
I got everything from Walmart on Sunday evening. I wasn't originally going to cook Sunday but I got super hungry and thought that these would hit the spot. They aren't pretty but, man, are they good.
To cook for 2, you'll need 2 peppers at 88 cents, 1 bag of uncooked rice at $1.49, 1-2 cans black beans at 93 cents, 1 $1.44 avocado, 1 $2.49 serrano pepper (I like my guacamole spicy, you can also use a jalepeno which would be $1 cheaper), I used American cheese slices for $1 and 1 can of diced tomatoes for 93 cents.
This brings your total (with 7% tax) to $10.18 :)
Getting Started:
To cook the rice, simmer water and add rice. Cover and simmer for 35 minutes (this will provide you prep time). To start the bell peppers halve/seed both peppers and boil them for 10 minutes. Halve and remove the seed from your avocado. Cut into slivers and place in a mixing bowl. Add the can of diced tomatoes. Dice the serrano or jalepeno and add to the mixing bowl. Add a small amount of lemon juice if you have it or just use salt and pepper to give you some extra flavor. If you like, cilantro also tastes great with this guacamole, but I chose not to use it on this occasion.
Use a masher or a food processor to turn your guacamole into your desired consistency. Mine is almost always more like salsa than guacamole in it's consistency, I like it chunky.
Get your black beans onto a saucepan with a little olive oil and garlic. Get everything warming up and then you can turn to your peppers.
Halve the peppers and seed them. Cover them with water and bring to a simmer. They should simmer for 10 minutes or so.
If you want to preheat your oven to 350, now would be the time to do so.
If you're still following, you're about to have some great food.
Basically from here, get your peppers on a baking tray and lay down a layer of rice. Then add 1 slice of cheese. Add black beans on top and cover with another slice of cheese. Lay these down in the oven and bake for about 15 minutes or until the cheese is a little bubbly.
I covered my peppers with a little of our guacamole-salsa and had to pause to remember to take a picture. I almost didn't because I just about dove in with how good these smelled. I hope you try these and you can easily substitute beef/vegetarian beef for the beans or rice or both. This is so easy to create your own version that everyone should try it with what you like.
