The cream cheese and pepper game

Dinnertime is an exciting time! Previous articles on this site have been about the joy of dinnertime. Not only with enticing recipes but also recipes that are easy on the budget. Ease of preparation is also a part of the joy of dinnertime.

However not every dish is a main dish at dinnertime. It is important to try and balance the meal. One method that always works well at my dinner table is side dishes. Not only do they enhance a meal but also help create a balanced meal.

For example, at breakfast the eggs are enhanced by the toast. Furthermore, the toast will have some beneficial carbs to go with the protein of the eggs. There is enhancement and balance, therefore it is more like a meal.

Pepper game

With this in mind it’s also important for dinnertime to have some balance. In previous articles on this site some one dish recipes were shared and in this link will lead to one of those recipes. In this article a simple side dish is the star.

This side dish gets a thumbs up for ease of preparation. It is also budget friendly with close attention given to the cost of the produce. The ingredient list is simple and will vary depending on the seasonal availability of the peppers in the produce section. Ingredients:

Cream Cheese (8 oz. block min.)
Whole fresh peppers from the produce section.
Jalapeno or Banana, Shishito peppers or Cuban peppers, will all work well.
375 degree preheated oven

Preparation

Preparation is simple and easy. Carefully slice the pepper vertically. Next, carefully scrape out seeds and additional pepper innards. Keeping the pepper whole is the goal.

Once the peppers are sliced open and scraped out, they are ready for cream cheese. Carefully stuff one tablespoon of cream cheese into a pepper. Repeat until all the peppers are stuffed with cream cheese.

Place the stuffed peppers on a cookie sheet and bake, in the preheated oven, for about thirty minutes. Or until the cream cheese and pepper is browned. Or lightly scorched. Depending on the pepper chosen, heat can be an issue! However that is the point with this side dish! Don’t worry the cream cheese will save the day!