Stuffed Peppers

if you can splurge for red or orange bell peppers, do. their flavor is much more sweet and less bitter than green ones.

2 bell peppers
2 cups cooked rice
1 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp. salt
2 Italian sausages
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup slivered almonds
dash(es) garlic salt
1/2 cup cheese (parmesan or cheddar)
1-2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper

1. in a medium sauce pan cook rice according its directions, adding the oil and salt at the beginning.
2. while rice is cooking take sausages out of the casings, break up into small pieces and brown in a skillet over medium to medium-high heat. continue breaking the sausage up even more as it cooks.
3. once the sausage is browned, scoop it into a large bowl leaving the grease in the skillet. add onion to the sausage grease and sauté until tender. add mushrooms and sauté until tender and slightly browned, adding a generous dash or two of garlic salt along the way. add almonds just before onions and mushrooms are done. transfer into bowl with sausage.
4. add cooked rice to the meat mixture. add cheese and Worcestershire and mix well. add salt and pepper to taste.
5. heat oven to 375º F. cut out the tops of the peppers and use a spoon to scrape out the seeds. rinse with water to get the peppers completely cleaned out. fill peppers with meat/rice mixture.
6. place stuffed peppers in a bread/loaf pan - or what ever pan the peppers fit in well. bake at 375º F for 15 minutes. serve immediately with any of the extra meat/rice mixture around the sides of the peppers.

you'll probably want to have serrated knives to cut the peppers as you eat them.

these can be made just as well with ground beef or without meat. if you make them with out, just sauté the onion and pepper in olive oil.