Stuffed Sweet Peppers & Creamy Corn Chowder

Last night Brian made a delicious and nutritious first meal of 2006 setting the bar for the rest of us. Here comes the science:

Stuffed Sweet Peppers













Ingredients [Serves 4]

4 whole sweet peppers
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Clean sweet peppers with a damp paper towel. Carefully gut without breaking outside.

2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and chopped mushroom stems to the skillet. Fry until any moisture has disappeared, taking care not to burn garlic. Set aside to cool.

3. When garlic and mushroom mixture is no longer hot, stir in cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, black pepper, onion powder and cayenne pepper. Mixture should be very thick. Using a little spoon, fill each pepper with a generous amount of stuffing. Arrange the peppers on prepared baking sheet.

4. Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the peppers are piping hot.


Creamy Corn Chowder


















Ingredients [Serves 4]

6 red potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 (11 ounce) cans whole kernel corn, undrained
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped sweet onion
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
2 cups vegetable broth
1 (12 ounce) package low-fat, firm silken tofu
salt to taste

Directions:

1. Place potatoes in a large pot of salted water and bring to a boil. Cook until tender, about 30 minutes; drain.

2. To the potatoes add corn, bell pepper, onion, red pepper flakes and vegetable broth. Boil for about 15 minutes; remove from heat.

3. In a food processor or blender puree all but 1 1/2 cups of the vegetable and broth mixture with the tofu. Process in batches if necessary. Combine the pureed mixture with the remaining 1 1/2 cups vegetable and broth mixture, and cook over low heat for 5 minutes; do not boil. Season with salt to taste.