Pinterest Day 8 - Beef Bell Pepper Nachos

The Pinterest recipe I looked at today is Mini Pepper Chicken Nachos by Nicole Moss

Beef Bell Pepper Nachos

The Reasons:

I have a lot of bell peppers and wanted something new to do with them.

The Ingredients:

I'm not even bothering for this one, really.  I can't use most of her ingredients, so I'm just using the concept of bell pepper as a base for a nacho recipe, and seeing what I've got.

The Challenges:

1. I don't have mini bell peppers, only regular sized ones.

2. I was freaking hungry and wanted food NOW.

What I did:

Pretty simple, really. 

1. I got a regular bell pepper, cut off the top and bottom, then sliced it into two big pieces. I then microwaved this for 2 minutes in a small powered microwave, and then put it in the toaster oven to toast on the medium toast setting for a minute or two more, until there was a tiny bit of blackening, and the bell pepper had sort of wilted into two flat pieces. Super quick.

My sad, lonely little pepper pieces

2. I got nacho fixings. 

Jalapeño and tomatillo

For me, this was left-overs. Seasoned browned beef and liver burgers, crumbled up; previously made black beans; wild tomatillos, chopped; and a jalapeño, chopped.  I heated up the meat and beans, put them on the bell peppers, and topped them with the tomatillos and jalapeño. 

Why did I make these choices:

Kind of obvious, yeah? Used what I had, with just the concept of 'bell pepper nacho' in my head.

The result:

First, taste-wise, these were pretty darn good. If I'd had avocado and tomato, I think they would have been really good, especially with a little cilantro. One thing I liked is that this is like a better version of stuffed peppers, for my tastes. Stuffed peppers tend to have too much bell pepper per stuffing; this had just about the right amount.

Texture-wise, there's a bit more of a problem, as the bell peppers became so floppy it was a bit tricky to eat - you either dive in and scoop it all with your hand, or use a fork.

How would I change this:

1. More ingredients for the nachos, but that's a matter of what I had on hand more than what the recipe needed.

2. Different presentation. I think that possibly microwaving the peppers briefly, then setting them in a casserole dish to lightly roast, would work for the base. Then add the toppings over it more like a casserole (already cooked), heat through, and add the cool toppings on top of that. Serve and eat with a fork. I think that would work nicely. Sort of a compromise between casserole and stuffed peppers. Maybe some day I'll get some mini-peppers to try it with and see if they hold together better, but until then, casserole it is.

Would I make this again:

Absolutely, with a variety of toppings!