The St. Mark’s Children’s Stuffed Peppers Recipe

Each year, the children of St. Mark’s cook one meal for Hotel de Zink. Traditionally, we make Mexican stuffed peppers – this is a dish that is healthy, tasty, easy to eat for those with dental issues, easy to make gluten- and dairy-free, as well as vegan and vegetarian. Plus, provides lots of jobs for chefs of all ages to do! Want to cook this special meal at home? Here’s our recipe:

Ingredients (feeds 4-6):
Note: most of these ingredients can be swapped or omitted depending on taste and preference. Try using a different style of beans or vegetables based on what you like!

1lb Ground beef or turkey (omit for vegetarian option)
1 can diced tomatoes or salsa
1 can black beans
1 onion
6 red, orange, or yellow bell peppers
1 yellow squash or zucchini
Spanish rice (optional)
1 can corn (optional)
Cheddar cheese
Taco spices (cumin, paprika, chili powder, salt, oregano – note that pre-packaged spices may contain gluten or dairy)

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Peel stickers off each bell pepper and rinse the peppers. Slice the tops off, setting them aside. Remove seeds and pith from inside peppers.

Slice the edible bits off the pepper tops and dice.

Dice the onion.

Chop the squash or zucchini into small pieces.

Brown the meat in a pan.

Open cans of beans and corn. Drain.

Open can of tomatoes/salsa.

In a hot pan, saute diced onion, squash/zucchini, and diced pepper tops until cooked.

In a large bowl, combine the browned meat, cooked vegetables, and canned ingredients. If you are making a vegetarian/vegan option, be sure to set aside another bowl to mix ingredients minus the meat! Stir in taco spices.

Grate cheese.

Set the peppers open-side up in a casserole dish with high sides. Scoop the mixed ingredients into each pepper, filling to the top.

Sprinkle grated cheese on top. (Omit for dairy-free/vegan option.)

Bake for 20-30 minutes, until cheese is melted and peppers are becoming soft.

Serve with salsa, guacamole, sour cream, extra cheese, and tortillas or tortilla chips!

And don’t forget to bless your peppers – we like to go around and each say a word of blessing for the people who will be enjoying our food. Common ones include love, welcome, happiness, and deliciousness.