People who put away their slow cookers away for the summer really need to have their head checked. 
Using a crock pot in the summer might be a better idea than using it in the winter. It doesn’t give off any heat and uses much less energy than an oven. When I get a craving for oven cooked meals in the summer, I find a way to make the recipe in a crock pot.
Caribbean Stuffed Peppers isn’t something I usually make but I wanted a fun twist on the everyday stuffed peppers recipe. Let’s be honest, the common stuffed pepper is great but I wanted to change it up a bit. Did you know ginger, curry and coconut are used a lot in Caribbean cooking? Putting all three of those ingredients into one dish guarantees a super flavorful meal.
To make the stuffed peppers, you’ll have to make the filling first. It’s filled with ginger, garlic, and ground pork. Once the pork is cooked, adding tomato paste & curry will give it a bright color. Stirring in couscous, sweet potatoes and fresh pineapple will make this filling very hearty, but friendly to your waistline. In order for the couscous to cook, some liquid needs to be added. I was looking for a way to bring in coconut to this dish, so I used light coconut milk. Stuff the peppers with the pork & couscous filling and place in the crock pot. Cook on low for 4 to 6 hours.
Be careful taking the cooked peppers out of the crock pot… I had one pepper spill out onto a plate. I was disappointed I lost the pretty presentation, but it didn’t matter. The pepper was soft enough to cut with a fork and the filling was so good! Every bite had a piece of sweet potato or crisp pineapple. The ginger, curry & coconut flavor really cooked into the sweet pepper stuffing. Not one pinch of salt was needed!
Summer is here for the next few months… be sure not to forget about using a crock pot! It came in handy when I made these Caribbean Stuffed Peppers. I really had a craving to try out a creative recipe and using the oven wasn’t an option.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp coconut oil (or your favorite cooking oil)
- 1/4 onion, diced
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 tsp ginger, minced
- .5 lb ground pork
- 3 oz tomato paste
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 1 sweet potatoes, peeled & diced
- 8 oz light coconut milk
- 1 cup couscous
- 1 cup fresh pineapple, diced
- 5 peppers, assorted colors
- 1 cup chicken broth
- cilantro, garnish
Instructions
- In a warmed skillet, add coconut oil. Once it melts, saute onion, garlic, ginger and ground pork. Once pork has browned, add tomato paste & curry powder. You'll need to work the paste into the meat mixture. Once it's well combined, add sweet potatoes, coconut milk, couscous and pineapple. Remove from heat.
- Remove the tops, ribs and seeds from peppers. Stuff pork couscous mixture into each pepper. Fill to the brim, if not more. Place stuffed peppers into slow cooker. Once all peppers are inside the crock pot, pour about 1 cup of chicken broth, so the peppers are sitting in liquid. Cover crock pot with lid and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours.
- When read to serve, garnish with cilantro.
