Ham and Rice Stuffed Peppers

I wanted to make some stuffed peppers, and I found myself with a leftover bell pepper, but I didn't want to spend as much time as most recipes required, so I started with this recipe, but changed parts of the method to get flavorful stuffed peppers more quickly. Not only were these peppers quick and easy, they were quite flavorful, especially with the slightly caramelized onions and cilantro. Although the original recipe called for parsley, I decided to switch that out with cilantro instead of just eliminating it, and I'm definitely glad I did! Since it's not a huge amount of cilantro, it doesn't take over, but when I got a bite with some cilantro, it definitely brightened up the flavor and made the stuffed peppers more delicious! In addition to being tasty, these peppers were quick and easy to make, taking about 10-15 minutes to get on the table, and part of that time, you don't even need to do anything! I only made 1 bell pepper since we were eating it as a side, and there's only 2 of us (plus, I only had one pepper left). You could easily scale up the recipe if desired.

Ham and Rice Stuffed Peppers

by CJ Huang

Materials:

Mass	Weight	Volume	Number	Material	Notes
			1	bell pepper
		1 cup		rice, cooked	I used my usual mixture of 1/3 each white rice, brown rice, and barley.
			1/2	onion, chopped
			small handful	ham, diced
		1 teaspoon		butter
		2 tablespoons		cilantro, chopped
				cheese, shredded	I used sharp cheddar.

Methods:

1. Cut pepper in half, removing seeds and white membrane.
2. In skillet, melt butter and cook onion until slightly caramelized, then add in rice and ham as well as any other desired seasonings.
3. Mix in cilantro after removing from heat.
4. Stuff pepper halves with mixture, top with cheese, and steam until desired level of tenderness reached. I steamed for about 5-10 minutes. Steaming will cook the peppers faster than baking.