A Mellow Day

Now that I've gotten my soup craving under control (last week I made Potato soup, Creamy Vegetable, paired with crawfish cornbread---yummm, and Cheesy Crawfish Tail soup), I'm ready to move on.

After working at my sweet little second job, I came home at 3 to the red and yellow bell peppers I bought on sale just for this meal. It's a mellow kind of day--cloudy outside, no stress from work, no one coming over, and just me, the peppers, and jazz music on the tv.

First, I cut the tops off the peppers and cleaned out the insides. Rather than your standard tomato sauce meatloaf rice concoction that is usually associated with stuffed peppers, I decided to take inspiration from a former friend. I cooked ground beef with onions and garlic, and added a can of undiluted cream of mushroom soup and some sliced mushrooms, seasoning with worc. sauce, creole seasoning, and celery flakes. I then spooned this mixture into the 4 decapitated peppers and replaced their heads. Into a preheated 350 oven to cook til the peppers are softened, then take the lids back off and top with grated cheddar cheese. Back into the oven to melt the cheese, and you almost have a crustless version of hamburger pie! I plan to serve this with wild mushroom risotto (you can buy this in a box at Target, and it's FABULOUS).

I got so into the rhythm of the cooking steps and the music that I didn't even take note of the songs floating around me, but the silky sounds couldn't have been a more perfect accompaniment to what I was doing. A glass of Barefoot cabernet doesn't hurt, either.

Enjoy!