Bell Pepper Taco Shells

Bell Pepper Taco Shells... I don't know why I haven't ever thought of this before, but it was quite genius. So we all know stuffed bell peppers right? They usually include a bell pepper with the top (stem part) cut off and then they're filled with ground meat and rice etc. Well this week I started thinking that sounded like a yummy idea but I wanted a Mexican twist. So I decided to eliminate the rice and use taco seasonings to make a beef taco filling for my stuffed peppers.

But then the more I thought about it, and once I saw the long oval like red peppers at the market this week I figured, why don't i cut them longways and make them like taco shells? Well guess what, it worked beautifully and here is what I can report out:

What I used:

• 2 long red bell peppers (cut in half, de-seeded and rinsed)
• 1-1.5 lbs ground beef
• 1 packet taco seasoning
• 1/2 can of rotel original (tomatoe with peppers)
• Shredded Cheese
• Avocado 
• Salsa

After cutting the bell peppers in half I drizzled them with a tiny olive oil and popped them in the oven skin side down on a baking sheet and 350 for about 10 minutes while I cooked my ground beef. 

To flavor the beef, I browned it first, then removed as much of the excess oil as possible. Once removed I added a packet for taco seasoning and half the can of rotel. This adds a nice chunky tomatoyness to the mixture and a bit of liquid which you lose when you remove the oil/fat. 

Once the beef was all browned and Dahlicious I ladled it into the bell pepper taco shells, sprinkled with cheese and popped in the broiled for a minute or two until the cheese was melted. I served them with fresh salsa and a perfectly rive avocado - Dahlish!!

They were easy to fork and knife or pick right up like a taco... and best of all, very guilt free. You could make this even "better" for you by replacing the ground beef with turkey for a very low fat/cal option.

Enjoy!