Sunset Magazine's Lamb & Couscous Stuffed Peppers

We leave for Christmas celebrations with my parents tomorrow, so I wanted to use up some things in my fridge before we’re gone for almost a week. I had two bell peppers and a little frozen, uncooked ground lamb leftover from when I made Bon Appetit’s Lamb Sausage Patties the other day. So I searched on Pinterest and found this beautiful looking creation from Sunset Magazine. I ended up throwing in some other veggies when I was browning the onion, garlic and herbs. I added cubed zucchini and grape tomatoes sliced in half. This added some really nice color to the finished product and helped me use up the rest of my produce.

Peppers afters baking ©EverydayCookingAdventures 2012

The whole process from prep to plating took me about 30 minutes. The finished product was very pretty and colorful, which made the food tempting to eat. Each of us had 2 halves, or one whole stuffed pepper, and by the second half I was rather stuffed and definitely had enough pepper so I just ate the delicious filling and left the second half of the pepper untouched.

©EverydayCookingAdventures 2012

Next time, maybe I’ll try this tzatziki sauce recipe from Cooking Light: Combine 1/2 cup cucumber (peeled, seeded, shredded), 1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1 minced garlic clove, stirring well. Anyways, here are my peppers: +Sunset Magazine

Lamb & Couscous Stuffed Peppers ©EverydayCookingAdventures 2012

Mediterranean Lamb & Couscous-Stuffed Peppers

Sunset Magazine April 2003
Yield: Makes 2 servings

Ingredients

2 red, green, and/or yellow bell peppers, rinsed
3/4 cup chopped onions
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon minced fresh mint leaves
1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary leaves
1 teaspoon olive oil
4 ounces ground lamb
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup fat-skimmed chicken broth
3/4 cup couscous
1/2 cup chopped parsley
Salt
1 1/2 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese

Preparation
1. Slice bell peppers in half lengthwise through stems (retain stems) and remove seeds. Place halves, cut side down, in a 8 x 8-inch baking pan. Bake in a 450º oven until lightly browned and tender when pierced, 13 to 18 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, in a large frying pan over high heat, stir onions, garlic, thyme, mint, and rosemary in olive oil until onions are limp and beginning to brown, about 5 minutes.

3. Add ground lamb and 2 tablespoons lemon juice. Stir until lamb is browned and crumbly, 2 to 3 minutes.

4. Stir in broth, couscous, and remaining 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Bring to a boil, then cover and remove from heat; let stand until liquid is absorbed and couscous is tender to bite, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in parsley; add salt to taste.

5. Turn pepper halves over; fill each with about 2/3 cup lamb mixture. Sprinkle feta cheese evenly over filling. Bake until cheese is slightly melted, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer peppers to a platter.