Mexican Stuffed Peppers

This was yummy. I've never had stuffed peppers, but was craving Mexican so I came up with a fusion. This combines taco meat, enchilada sauce and Spanish rice. And a ton of cheese :)

Spanish Rice:
1 cup of rice, uncooked (I used brown)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 1/2 cups water
1 cup tomato sauce
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt

Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and rice. Stir constantly until browned. Remove from the heat and add the water, tomato sauce, chili powder and salt. Combine and place back on high heat. Bring the mixture to a boil- when it does, reduce the heat to continue bubbling. Stir occasionally until the mixture thickens.

After the rice is done, pour it into a large bowl. I used the same skillet to cook my meat.

While the rice is thickening, start your enchilada sauce.

Enchilada Sauce:
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp flour
several shakes of chili powder (I don't like things TOO spicy- the recipe I based this off of called for 1/4 CUP, but many of the reviewers disagreed with this, so I just shook some in)
1 cup water
1 cup tomato sauce
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp paprika
salt to taste

Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the flour and combine to create a paste. Add the chili powder and stir for a couple of minutes- until this starts to lightly brown. Add the water, tomato sauce, garlic powder, paprika and salt. Combine, and stir occasionally until the sauce thickens.

When you are ready to start the taco meat, preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Taco Meat
1/2 lb ground turkey
1/2 packet of mild taco seasoning
a splash of water

Brown the turkey in the skillet used for the rice. Add the 1/2 packet of taco seasoning, along with enough water to thoroughly mix the seasoning with the meat (about 1/3 cup?). Mix until the meat and seasoning thicken and the water is gone. Stir the meat into the large bowl containing the rice. Mix thoroughly.

To stuff the peppers:

2 peppers- I had 2 relatively large ones and ended up with just a bit of leftover stuffing. If you have smaller ones, I would recommend using 3-4
Cheddar Cheese
Sour Cream

Cut the tops off of the peppers and remove the seeds and ribs (the white parts that are sticky-outy).

Line a glass pan with aluminum foil (to help cleanup) and place the peppers inside the pan. If the peppers are tipsy, cut a bit off of the bottom to level them out.

Add a few handfuls of the cheddar to the bowl containing the meat and rice. Scoop the meat mixture into the peppers. After the peppers are filled to the brim, spoon over the enchilada sauce. Top with a bit more cheddar cheese.

Stick the pan with the peppers into the 400 degree oven for about 20-30 minutes. Take the peppers out with they start to brown and get soft.

I topped my peppers with sour cream and a bit more cheese... I might like cheese.. a little.