Day before yesterday, my brother came by with a whole grocery sack full of peppers from their garden. And when I say full, I mean about as stuffed with peppers as a grocery sack can get!
There were globular green bell peppers and slender red cayenne peppers. There were “Big Jim” chili peppers (a new try for this year!) and the pudgy light green jalapenos that have become a faithful favorite among our family gardens.
Let me just pause for a moment here to say that I love having family community! We’re “country neighbors” with my brothers’ families, meaning we’re several roads over. It’s far enough apart to have distinct family lives and identities, but close enough that we get to worship God together, lend a helping hand when needed, gather to eat together on occasion, and share homegrown dairy products, vegetable seedlings, flowers, melons…or peppers…as the season and bounty allows. I feel so blessed to be associated with these precious, loving, hard-working folks.
Okay, now you know some of the background behind that gift of peppers! 🙂
I quickly got a hankering for some Jalapeno Poppers and because supper was on me that evening, I decided on fixing up a batch of them to go along with a build-your-own salad, with bowls of toppings such as boiled eggs, chunked tomatoes, roasted almonds, and raisins served over crunchy romaine lettuce, topped with a homemade buttermilk dressing. Yum! The cheesy, zippy peppers would set this off just right!
I set to work cleaning a dozen of those jalapenos, wearing gloves and carefully removing the seeds and white inner membrane to cut down on some of the heat.
Once your have the peppers cleaned, the version of poppers I like to make isn’t fussy. It doesn’t involve making any batter or heating up the fry oil, so if you want to whip these up on a busy weeknight, they go together pretty quickly. Here they are: all melty and gooey and ready to eat!
Jalapeno Poppers
“Gooey and cheesy, this is summertime comfort food! The way it normally works is that some are hot and some are not…so they keep you coming back for more!”
- 12 jalapeno peppers, cut in half lengthwise, seeds and membrane removed
- 6 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 4 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 t. garlic powder, or 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 T. chopped chives, or 1 t. dried minced onion
- ½ t. dried parsley
- ¼ c. fine dry bread crumbs
- 1 ½ T. butter, melted
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Lay pepper halves cut-side up on a baking sheet. In a small bowl, mix cream cheese, cheddar cheese, garlic, chives, and parsley until combined. Stuff each pepper half with cheese mixture, dividing evenly between all peppers.
Mix bread crumbs with melted butter. Sprinkle evenly over the top of the stuffed peppers. Bake at 400 degrees for 18-22 minutes, or until peppers are tender and the crumb topping is nicely browned. Cool slightly before serving.
Please let me know if you give these a try. And, I’d love to know…what is your favorite way to fix peppers? Thanks for reading!
Because of Jesus,
Maggie ♥
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