Stuffed Peppers

I am always looking for good slow-cooker recipes. Since I rarely have the hour between 5:30 pm and 6:30 pm free to make dinner, I love recipes that allow me the flexibility to prepare the food early and still have a hot meal on the table when Mike gets home. But every time Mike sees me get out the slow-cooker, he grimaces because he has found that most meals cooked this way are bland and a little soggy. The method isn't bad if you are making a soup or trying to soften a lower-grade cut of meat, like a pot roast. But let's be honest here, a person can only have pot roast so many times in a month before it gets boring. So I have started the hunt for other types of food which can be made in a slow-cooker and still taste divine.

Serves: 4
Start to Finish: 30 minutes to prep/ 2 hours in the slow-cooker
Recipe By: Original recipe by Melissa McCabe which I adapted to better suit Mike and my tastes

Ingredients:

4 large sweet peppers
1 cup cooked rice
1/4 lb ground beef
1 small tomato, diced
1/2 cup canned corn
1/2 small sweet onion, diced
1/4 cup canned red beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
1/2 (4-oz) can chopped olives
1/2 tsp basil
1 1/2 garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/4 cup spaghetti sauce
1/2 cup water
2 TBSP grated Parmesan cheese, plus some for garnish

Directions:

1. Cut tops off peppers and remove seeds.
2. Salt the inside of the peppers; set aside.
3. In a small skillet, brown the ground beef over medium-high heat until no longer pink.
4. In a large bowl combine: rice, ground beef, tomatoes, corn, onion, beans, cheese, olives, basil, garlic, salt and pepper.
5. Combine spaghetti sauce and water in separate bowl.
6. Pour half the sauce into the bottom of the slow cooker, pour the other half into the rice and beef mixture.
7. Spoon rice and beef mixture into peppers.
8. Add the stuffed peppers to the slow cooker (my slow-cooker is SMALL, so I stacked the peppers in any way I could fit them and they still came out perfectly cooked).
9. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
10. Cover and cook on low for 2 hours or until peppers are tender.
11. Sprinkle with additional Parmesan cheese and serve.