Stuffed Peppers with Dirty Rice

Being that it's the middle of October and the weather is definitely starting to turn, we finally put our garden to bed last week and I harvested all the remaining tomatoes and peppers.   While I am preparing and freezing most of the tomatoes for the holidays, I wanted to use the bell peppers fresh and in a new way.   Being from New Orleans, I love dirty rice so I figured why not stuff the peppers with it?  Since my peppers were on the smaller side, I did them as a side dish, but if you have larger ones, it could definitely be the main course.  Keep in mind that everyone's version of dirty rice is different and most of it is based on what you have in the kitchen at the time. My dirty rice changes every time I make it!   

Stuffed  Peppers with Dirty Rice

Dirty Rice Mixture:

1 bunch of fresh parsley, chopped

1 bunch of green onions, chopped

1 pound of ground beef

Topping: 

homemade french bread crumbs

2 tsp olive oil

shredded cheddar cheese

Saute parsley, green onion and ground beef until cooked through and drain off liquid.  Mix with 2 cups of cooked basmati rice and stuff into halved bell peppers.  

Combine topping ingredients and top the stuffed peppers with it (with as little or as much as you like). 

Cook in a 350 degree oven until heated through and peppers are cooked but still firm, about 20 minutes. 

Stuffed Peppers with Dirty Rice