Mini Bell Pepper Appetizers

Baseball season is finally here and with that being an Oakland A’s fan means many tailgates.  I love tailgating for the friendship bonding time and getting to test out new recipes that sometimes make the camping menus on our trips.

Usually my bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers are a staple for tailgates but lately it seems like all my friends are either Keto, Paleo or vegetarian so for our first tailgate of the season, I wanted to come up with something that everyone could eat.  So here I give you a meat option for those Keto and Paleo friends and a goat cheese option for the vegetarians.

Keto & Paleo Friendly Bell Beppers –

Ingredients:

• Mini bell peppers – I grabbed the 1.5 lb at Costco
• 1 lb. Ground beef (or turkey but I feel beef has a lot more flavor)
• Taco seasoning packet
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup Tomato sauce
• Small onion
• Tomatoes (optional)
• Black olives (optional)

Directions:

1. Slice mini bell peppers in half and scrape out the seeds
2. Add a little bit of olive oil to pan and add and saute onions for a few minutes.  Then add ground beef and cook fully.
3. Add taco seasoning to ground beef and the tomato sauce.  I added enough sauce that it was coated but not watery.  Let beef simmer for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat.
4. Fill bell peppers with meat mixture
5. Top with tomatoes and olives if you want.  The people in our group preferred no tomatoes or olives but really up to your audience
6. Create foil packets and add bell peppers to them.  Grill for about 10 minutes or until the inside of the bell pepper looks heated through

Goat Cheese Mini Bell Peppers –

Ingredients:

• Mini Bell Peppers
• 10.5 oz. Goat Cheese Log – I find the Kirkland brand 2 pack goat cheese logs at Costco the best for value
• 2/3 cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese
• Three cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 – 4 Jalapenos (depending on spice level), seeded and chopped

Directions:

1. Slice mini bell peppers in half and scrape out the seeds
2. In a large bowl, combine softened goat cheese, diced jalapenos, minced garlic, and shredded parmesan cheese
3. Fill the mini bell peppers with the goat cheese mixture.  Note: I find just using your hands is the easiest for this and I fill them to almost overflowing the brim of the peppers
4. Create foil packets and fill packets with bell peppers.  Grill for about 10 minutes or until cheese looks heated through and oozing.

 

Enjoy and Let’s Go Oakland!