Last night my sister came over to hang out, drop off a late wedding present, and watch the season finale of The Office. I decided I wanted to put together something special for dinner, so I did a bit of googling and came up with a recipe for Mexican stuffed peppers.

Here’s the end result. I would’ve liked to do something more interesting with the presentation, at least to the extent of not having a bunch of juices running all over the plate, but c’est la vie.

The basic concept is half a pepper stuffed with monterey jack cheese and a mixture of ground beef and rice which has been flavoured with chili powder and taco seasoning.

It turned out really delicious, and as you can see from the picture I served it with just a basic green salad. If I make this again, I’ll probably try to think of something more to serve as a side dish, maybe chips and salsa as a sort of appetizer.

Making this involved a couple of firsts for me. I’d never steamed anything before (I steamed the peppers before stuffing and baking them) and, believe it or not, I’d never cooked rice before. I’m a potato guy, so I’ve always made potatoes as my starch if given any sort of choice. Live and learn, right?