Cooking for Dogs – Stuffed Peppers

I love stuffed peppers at a BBQ.
They’re one of those foods that are really easy to make up ahead of time, so that you can hang out with your guests once the party starts. It takes no effort at all to pop them on the BBQ, char them and have a fancy little dish ready to serve.

They are really versatile flavour-wise.
They can be made with meat or with beans to please a vegetarian guest, with rice or with quinoa for those with grain allergies and the options for ways to season & sauce them are practically endless.

Great BBQ Food Gone to the dogs.
The one downside to stuffed peppers is that I’m a clumsy oaf. It’s pretty much impossible for me to eat them without spilling all over myself and dropping a good snack on the floor for my dogs to clean up. (No one else seems to have a problem. Just me. I think I have a hole in my chin!) Since I know my dogs will be cleaning up my mess, it’s really important to make sure everything in those stuffed peppers is dog friendly.

Here’s what you need for Dog Friendly Stuffed Peppers:
5 -6 medium red or green bell peppers
3/4 cup uncooked rice or quinoa
1 lb. extra lean ground beef or turkey (or beans for the vegetarian in the crowd)
8 oz. roast red pepper sauce (make sure it’s pure roast pepper with no added “flavour”)
½ tbsp. each fresh basil, oregano & thyme
*optional: 1 clove garlic, grated fine
Pinch of salt
¼ c. shredded parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Remove tops, seeds and membrane from your peppers. Drop peppers in the water and cook for 4 – 5 minutes. Remove from water and put in a cold water bath to stop the cooking process.

Cook rice or quinoa according to package directions and set aside. Brown turkey, beef or beans in a skillet, along with the garlic. Drain off any fat, and then stir in rice/quinoa, roast red pepper sauce, cheese and herbs.

Stuff peppers with you filling, careful not to break the pepper. (If you do, you can wrap them with kitchen twine to ensure they don’t fall apart on the grill.) Store in refrigerator until ready to cook.

When you’re ready to cook, heat the grill to medium and place peppers directly on the grill. Cook until skin has browned (about 20 min), turning frequently. (If your grill is too hot, they’ll start to fall apart a bit. Just wrap them in foil and keep going)
Remove from heat and serve! Top with more roast pepper sauce, if desired.

The pups and people at Casa de Kolchak love the tasty Italian flavours of these peppers, but we hear good things about Mexican stuffed peppers with cilantro and a light kick of chilies (for the humans only). What flavours would you try?

Author’s Note: We know that garlic is often listed as toxic for pets. However, after a lot of personal research, I believe that in the small amounts used for seasoning or therapeutic use, it is safe and potentially even beneficial. I encourage every dog owner to research the reasons for the warning and decide for themselves if they are comfortable using this ingredient for their dogs

Meet our Cooking for Dogs Editor Jodi and her dogs Kolchak and Felix

Jodi is a canine nutrition and small animal naturopathy student hailing from beautiful Vancouver, BC. (That’s in Canada, eh?) She loves to experiment in the kitchen, creating tasty (and healthy) treats for her two dogs, Felix & Kolchak and the rest of her family. Jodi’s blog, Kol’s Notes follows the antics of the irrepressible Kolchak as he celebrates good food, good friends and the good life.