Shrimp Stuffed Pepper Poppers

Shrimp stuffed pepper poppers. Serve these as an appetizer or main protein. I bet you can’t just have one!

These were honestly born out of having two ingredients on hand- shrimp & mini peppers- and trying to figure out how to make a meal out of them. That is how most of my meals are created. Either I grab inspiration from what is fresh/ in season while shopping OR I while at home I make it into a game of trying to create something with the items that we already have. I tend to live without plans or recipes and love the creativity that comes of it. Next time you are at the end of your weekly groceries, try to figure out if you have the necessities (a protein, a starch, maybe some fresh or frozen vegetables) and pretend you are on the show “Chopped”! Sometimes this will create your most inspired dishes (or sometimes it won’t… but it is always fun trying).

RECIPE

Ingredients:

• Large bag of mini bell peppers

• 1 lb of frozen shrimp (thawed per package directions)

• Queso fresco (10 oz)

• 3 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 Tbsp of chili powder

• Salt

• Olive oil

• Bunch of fresh parsley, chopped (reserve some for serving)

• 1 Tbsp fresh dill, chopped (optional)

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350 F.

• Cut mini bell peppers in half, long ways and take out any seeds. I left the steps on. Place in a bowl and toss with a drizzle of olive oil and a couple dashes of salt.

• Place cut side down on baking sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes, just until a littlie softened and more pliable.

• Turn oven up to 400 F.

• Heat pan on medium-high. Drizzle a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Add garlic. Cook until just softened, around 2 minutes. Throw shrimp into pan. Sprinkle with salt and chili powder. Cook on both sides for about 5 minutes, until shrimp is pink and tail is curled.

• Add the shrimp and the garlic sauce from the shrimp pan to a food processor. Crumble about 1/3 of the queso fresco into the processor and add parsley and dill. Process until cohesive and there are no large chunks.

• Spoon shrimp mixture into bell peppers. Bake again in 400 F oven for about 10-15 minutes until golden brown and a little crispy.

• Top with more fresh parsley.