skillet un-stuffed peppers

Ingredients

3 red, yellow, or orange bell peppers

1 small white onion

1/2 bunch parsley

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 pound 85/15 ground beef

2 teaspoons kosher salt

3/4 cup couscous

1(15-ounce) can diced fire- roasted tomatoes, with their juices

1(15-ounce) can tomato sauce

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon ground cumin

8 ounces shredded pepper Jack cheese (2 cups)

Directions

1. Position a rack about 4 inches from the broiler heat element and turn the broiler to high.

2. Finely chop the bell peppers, onion, and the parsley leaves and tender stems. Warm the olive oil in a deep 12-inch ovenproof skillet or saucepan over medium-high heat. When it shimmers, add the ground beef, peppers, onion, and salt and cook, breaking up the meat into small crumbles with a wooden spoon, until the beef is cooked through and the vegetables have softened, 5 to 6 minutes.

3. Add the couscous, diced tomatoes with their juices, tomato sauce. oregano, garlic powder, paprika, cumin, and half the chopped parsley. Stir to combine and cook until the tomatoes are simmering. about 1 minute. Stir half the cheese into the mixture. Smooth the surface of the mixture, then sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top and transfer the skillet to the oven. Broil until the cheese is melted and golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes.

4. Garnish with more parsley, scoop into four bowls, and enjoy immediately!

Notes

learn When I say to use the "leaves and tender stems" of parsley or cilantro, 1 mean just ditch the fat stems at the bottom, then chop up the rest! The tender stems are just as Flavorful as the leaves, if not more.

shortcut The cook time here is super fast, but the recipe does require some chopping. To make that part

faster, cut the seeds and stems out of the peppers, quarter the onion, and throw it all in a food processor, then

pulse to chop. After you scrape those out, pulse the parsley leaves and tender stems a few times to chop them, too.

SWap if the pepper Jack is a little too spicy, any shredded cheese is great here-cheddar, mozzarella,

provolone, whatever. * To make this gluten-free, replace the couscous with 1% cups cooked rice or quinoa, or skip the grains entirely and stir in 2 cups cauliflower rice with the peppers and beef. * To ramp up the flavor, use 1 pound ground Italian sausage instead of ground beef-so good.

15 Minutes 55