Sausage Stuffed Peppers

All week long we have been doing a cleanse and veggie-tox, mostly drinking veggie shakes and juices and only consuming raw fruits and vegetables other than a small piece of grilled fish at dinner. We added 1 "meal" back Thursday, and 2 "meals" back Friday.  Bryan did fantastic all week, enjoyed the cleanse and admittedly feels much better.  But, he could only hold on for so long...and by Saturday he was asking if we could have Fiesta Night. hahaha.  After all, we usually get 1 night a week where we cheat a little and indulge in a bit of what isn't necessarily Primal, that 20% that we allow every now and again!

He had Mexican on the brain and taste buds and was hinting at Loaded Nachos.  Now, let me tell you, there are probably few people in this world that like sloppy, greasy, cheesy, spicy, dicey Tex-Mex and Mexican better than I do.  I mean...I have always said that the tortilla is my 1 Paleo Pass for life.  But...after working so hard all week I wasn't giving in to a pan full of corn chips.  And in reality, what Bryan is always looking for is a good salsa delivery system and something to put jalapeños on.  We both LOVE salsa, all salsa and are just looking for something to smoother in it!

So, I got my wheels turning...Fiesta Night, with minimal dairy and without my beloved chips and tortillas...tough!  But this was the perfect answer!  And paired with Chicken Fajita Roll-Ups (coming today also), it was AHHHHmazing!!!!!!  Ole'!!!

Now, you can use any kind of pepper for this!  I prefer the Anaheim, larger less intrusive flavor, but then Bryan always goes for the jalapeño....so we did both!  But, you can totally use Poblano, Hatch, anything you like!!!

What you need...
1 lb. sausage - I used Neeses Original
about 10 peppers (8 if you do larger ones, 12 if you do jalapeños or another small pepper)
4 oz. cream cheese, room temp
1/2 cup mozzarella
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 tsp cumin

Preheat oven to 400F and line a pan with foil.  Brown sausage in a sauté pan on high heat breaking it apart into bits as it cooks.  Reduce to medium and continue cooking until the sausage is cooked through, browned and all broken into small bits and pieces.  Remove from pan and drain on a couple of paper towels.

Meanwhile, wash the peppers.  Cut a small wedge out of each one, and scrape out all the pith and seeds.  Reserve the removed portion, you can chop it and add it back into the sausage mixture or use it for another recipe!  Place the peppers on the lined pan.

Using a large bowl, mix sausage, cream cheese, mozzarella, cumin & cilantro.  Mix until well combined.  Use a spoon and begin stuffing each pepper.  I stuffed each one and then used my fingers to push it all to one end, packing it as tight as I could and stuffing more in there.  Once you get them jammed full of that yummy sausage goodness.  Place into the oven and roast for 30 minutes.

I had a couple loose some of the filling, so check them every few minutes and spoon it back in if that happens!!!

Top with salsa if you like, but these are fabulous as an appetizer or along with something else!

What you need...

Cook the sausage over high heat for a few minutes then cut down to medium and cook through until browned, breaking it up into bits.

When it's cooked through, scoop it out and drain on a paper towel.

Slice a wedge out of the side of each pepper and use a spoon to scrape out the pith and seeds. (I saved the wedge pieces and chopped those up for the Roll-Ups).

Mix sausage, cilantro, cream cheese, mozzarella & cumin

Mix until well combined...

Using a spoon, stuff each pepper as full as you can get them.  I stuffed, then used my fingers to push it down towards one end, and stuffed more in!

Bake at 400F for 30 minutes.  Keep a check on them because a couple of mine jumped ship and I had to roll the stuffing back in!  They must have been doing the Salsa...haha.

Next up...

Pairs well with Chicken Fajita Roll-Ups, coming next!