Peppers Stuffed with Beef, Mushrooms & Barley

The theme for Monday posts in October is Stuffed Vegetables.

We love stuffing all kinds of vegetables: summer and winter squashes, peppers, pumpkins, onions, tomatoes, mushrooms….

Stuffed Green Peppers, with ground beef, tomato sauce and rice, were the standard when I was a child. If my mother made them they were good; if they were part of a school lunch they were…. not so good.

When I started making them, with modifications of course, they were very good.

But why stick to the usual….

Click here to Pin Peppers Stuffed with Beef, Mushrooms & Barley

Peppers Stuffed with Beef, Mushrooms & Barley

Print Recipe

Both peppers and mushrooms are at their best in the fall. This easy main course makes the most of both.

• Author: Kate
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Active Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 20 minutes
• Total Time: 50 minutes
• Yield: 2 servings 1x
• Category: One Dish Dinners

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1/2 cup quick-cooking barley
• 1 cup (8oz, 240ml) beef broth
• 3 nicely shaped medium bell peppers, any color
• 6oz (180gr) ground beef
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 6oz (180gr) mushrooms, trimmed and sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 8 fresh sage leaves, chopped
• 1/2 cup (4oz, 120ml) beef broth
• 1 tbs cornstarch dissolved in 1 tbs water
• 1/2 cup (4oz, 120gr) Greek yogurt

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Instructions

• Cook barley in 1 cup broth until done.
• Put a large pot of water on high heat and bring to a boil.
• Cut peppers in half the long way, remove stem end and seeds.
• When water is boiling drop peppers in and simmer for 5 minutes.
• Remove and put into a baking dish that will just hold them.
• Heat oil in nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
• Sauté chili powder and paprika for 1 minute.
• Add onion, sauté until tender, 5 minutes.
• Add garlic, sage and mushrooms, sauté 3 minutes longer.
• Add beef and sauté until cooked through, breaking it up as it cooks.
• Add broth and heat to simmering.
• When broth mixture is simmering, stir cornstarch in to thicken.
• Remove from heat, add yogurt and stir well to combine.
• When barley is done stir into mushroom / beef mixture.
• Spoon into the pepper halves.
• Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes at 400F (200C).
• Remove foil and bake for 5 minutes longer.

Notes

Quick-cooking barley is ready in about 15 minutes. If you don’t have it substitute rice or orzo.
Try to find the best flat sides of the peppers before cutting so that they will lie nicely.

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1/2 recipe
• Calories: 570
• Sugar: 18.2 g
• Sodium: 511.9 mg
• Fat: 15.6 g
• Saturated Fat: 4.5 g
• Trans Fat: 0.1 g
• Carbohydrates: 72.4 g
• Fiber: 16.8 g
• Protein: 38.4 g
• Cholesterol: 60.1 mg

For another twist – and this doesn’t involve blanching the peppers first: Stuffed Peppers, Asian-Style.

That’s it!