#flowertherapy might be right up there with #water #flowertherapy might be right up there with #watertherapy.  Love passing the time in secret wildflower patches. As you do. 🌸
I remarked how pretty that tiny sliver of the moon I remarked how pretty that tiny sliver of the moon was on the way home tonight, and my friend pulled over right away so I could grab a photo. That’s when someone really knows you! It was just too beautiful to resist. 🌙
Weekend photos in review, old school style. ✨ C Weekend photos in review, old school style. ✨ 
Context: 1/ picture perfect weekend, 2/ threw together a quick meal w udon noodles, steak and broccoli, so good, 3/ the sun reflections on this painting struck me today, looked like a cross 4/ it takes all afternoon but nothing like Sunday Gravy, 5/ six months old, 6/ when he wants some serious zzzz’s, he covers his eye with his ears, the cutest, 7/ breakfast pastries at @coniglios
I have plenty of reusable shopping bags since New I have plenty of reusable shopping bags since New Jersey banned the plastic ones last year. But when I spied this beauty for a buck, how could I resist? It just is so darn happy, which makes me happy. The little things aren’t so little. 💛
Cheers to the weekend! This may look like a staged Cheers to the weekend! This may look like a staged photo, but Lola just has ZERO boundaries and Clifford is exceptionally patient. 😂
I’ve been on a smoked salmon kick lately (it’s I’ve been on a smoked salmon kick lately (it’s so good for you), so when I saw that a local patisserie has a smoked salmon croissant available (weekends only), I added it to my list of things to seek out. I popped into @chocolatinenj early on Mother’s Day and was rewarded with this deliciousness. Layers of soft flaky croissant dough, tender smoked salmon, light whipped cream, thinly sliced red and green onion slivers and dotted with capers… it was every bit as amazing as you’d imagine it would be. If you’re local, don’t sleep on this one. 😋
Weekend photos in review, the belated edition. 1/ Weekend photos in review, the belated edition.

1/ hit up a few yard sales and snagged this beautiful pasta dish from Italy with my favorite color for a buck, 2/ and one of these printer trays came home with me too, 3/ pre Mother’s Day celebrations with 30 local moms, 4/ finished the weekend supervising furniture assembly
Today would have been my friend Cathy’s 53rd bir Today would have been my friend Cathy’s 53rd birthday. Unfortunately she’s not here to celebrate because she died suddenly at age 49. I think of her often … every Mother’s Day because we spent most of them together since her husband worked weekends … when I discover a new food adventure (we once did a day long donut crawl) … when I’m sharing a special time with my kids knowing that her then-11 year old is growing up without her. Before she passed, I always appreciated every day, but since then, even more so. You never know what the next day can bring, so relish in the sunshine, surprise rainstorms, making wishes over railroad tracks and all the wonderful randomness life can throw your way. Don’t waste a single second, say yes, live on the outskirts of your comfort zone, laugh often, tell people you love them, give eight second hugs, and squeeze every ounce of joy you can out of life. Do it for the people who can’t. ✨
  • Home
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Press
  • Writing
  • Contact

Sweetnicks

Food and Life

Pepper Ring Meatloaf

September 8, 2008 · Narrative

I caught an episode of Sunny Anderson’s Cooking for Real awhile back, and she made meatloaf that was stuffed into pepper rings.  I, for one, love meatloaf.  A warm slice between two pieces of mayo’d and ketchup’d bread – total comfort food.  The Husband and Nicholas?  Not so much.

But stuffed into a sliced pepper ring?  I thought I might be able to get away with it.  I’ve learned that sometimes you just need to change the appearance or name of something to slip it past them.  Shhh.

Nicholas wouldn’t touch it, but he’s got a more watchful eye than The Husband does.  The Husband, however, dug in, and polished it off.  About halfway through, he looked up and asked me what it was.

“Meat in a pepper ring.”  What?  You think I’m crazy?

When he was done, I said, “Also known as meatloaf in a pepper ring.”

He gave me a look and then said, “You know I don’t like meatloaf.”

“Well apparently that’s not necessarily true since you just ate it all.”

And it was turkey meatloaf to boot!  Now if only I could get him to like regular meatloaf, I’d be set, but since I don’t see that happening, it just means more for me and assorted neighbors and friends.  Wouldn’t you like to be a neighbor too?

Hungry for more meatloaf recipes?
Serious Eats celebrated National Meatloaf Day, with a bunch of new recipes for your dining pleasure.
Jason from Off the Broiler went with a Latin version.
And Fine Furious Life shared a twist that you just have to see to believe.

P.S.  And no worries, I haven’t abandoned my menu plan already.  This was made awhile back and just never made it to Sweetnicks.

Pan Fried Meatloaf in Tricolor Peppers
Recipe courtesy Sunny Anderson

1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 pound ground turkey
2 slices white bread, cut into cubes
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes with basil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 egg
1 small onion, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped sage leaves, plus 6 to 8 whole leaves, for frying
A few dashes Worcestershire sauce
A few dashes hot sauce
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon oil
oil, for frying

Preheat oven to 400F. Remove core and seeds from peppers. Slice into 1 inch rings and place on nonstick baking sheet. You should get about 3 rings per pepper. In a large bowl mix together beef, turkey, bread, 1/2 cup of the tomatoes, garlic, egg, onion, chopped sage, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and season with salt and pepper. Press meatloaf mixture evenly into pepper rings. In a skillet over medium-high heat, add oil. Saute meatloaf rings on both sides until golden brown, about 5 minutes per side. Add remaining tomatoes to skillet and bake until cooked through, 20 to 25 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, heat 1-inch vegetable oil until a deep-fry thermometer reaches 325F. Drop sage leaves into oil and fry until golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Garnish meatloaf rings with fried sage leaves.

Cate’s Notes:  I skipped the fried sage leaf thing since it seemed a little unnecessary to me.  Recipe serves 4-6, which is spot on.  I kept half and shared half with friends (2 adults, 2 kids), so we fed 4 adults and 3 kids for under $15.  Not too shabby.

Print Friendly, PDF & EmailPRINT

Posted In: Narrative

Comments

  1. Debbie says

    September 9, 2008 at 7:05 am

    I love meat loaf. In fact I just posted one also. It’s great hot or cold and I always make 2 and freeze one….

    Reply
  2. darla says

    September 9, 2008 at 10:21 am

    I love the idea of pepper rings (and we all love meatloaf….my recipe, that is!), but I have a question. A 28 oz. can of tomatoes seems like a lot for one pound of meat. Doesn’t it come out “soupy?” Maybe the bread helps absorb some liquid….it just seems like a lot to me. Thanks!

    Reply
  3. Rachel says

    September 9, 2008 at 10:43 am

    It says to heat the oven to 400, but you are frying them in a skillet, so what’s the oven for?

    Thanks!
    Rachel

    Reply
  4. Cate says

    September 9, 2008 at 11:11 am

    Rachel, it finishes cooking in the oven: “Add remaining tomatoes to skillet and bake until cooked through, 20 to 25 minutes.”

    Darla, no. Only a little bit of the tomatoes gets mixed in with the meat. The rest serves as a sauce.

    Debbie – should definitely start freezing some – good idea.

    Reply
  5. Darius T. Williams says

    September 9, 2008 at 4:59 pm

    You should have taken pictures. Sunny Anderson is my girl – I love her. She has a blog too – http://www.sunnyanderson.blogspot.com – show her some love. She’ll comment back!

    Reply
  6. Cate says

    September 9, 2008 at 11:34 pm

    Darius – thanks for the heads up on her blog – will definitely stop by. I’ve tried a few of her recipes and like them. Love her personality and laidback attitude. Pictures were not post-worthy. :(

    Reply
  7. Kris says

    September 10, 2008 at 2:29 pm

    Anytime you want to send something to #40 – feel free to do so!

    Reply
  8. Deb says

    June 14, 2011 at 7:25 pm

    Hi. We love these bell pepper ring meat loaves. But I don’t fry mine at all. I just fill up the rings with the meat loaf mixture….make a topping sauce out of ketchup, mustard and brown sugar that I got from Paula Deen meat loaf recipe and bake them in the oven as I do a regular meat loaf for about 45 minutes. DELICIOUS and everybody has their own little meat loaf. So cool.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CommentLuv badgeShow more posts

Storytelling…
Through photos.
Words. And recipes.

Archives

Categories

Instagram

#flowertherapy might be right up there with #water #flowertherapy might be right up there with #watertherapy.  Love passing the time in secret wildflower patches. As you do. 🌸
I remarked how pretty that tiny sliver of the moon I remarked how pretty that tiny sliver of the moon was on the way home tonight, and my friend pulled over right away so I could grab a photo. That’s when someone really knows you! It was just too beautiful to resist. 🌙
Weekend photos in review, old school style. ✨ C Weekend photos in review, old school style. ✨ 
Context: 1/ picture perfect weekend, 2/ threw together a quick meal w udon noodles, steak and broccoli, so good, 3/ the sun reflections on this painting struck me today, looked like a cross 4/ it takes all afternoon but nothing like Sunday Gravy, 5/ six months old, 6/ when he wants some serious zzzz’s, he covers his eye with his ears, the cutest, 7/ breakfast pastries at @coniglios
I have plenty of reusable shopping bags since New I have plenty of reusable shopping bags since New Jersey banned the plastic ones last year. But when I spied this beauty for a buck, how could I resist? It just is so darn happy, which makes me happy. The little things aren’t so little. 💛

Pinterest

#flowertherapy might be right up there with #water #flowertherapy might be right up there with #watertherapy.  Love passing the time in secret wildflower patches. As you do. 🌸
I remarked how pretty that tiny sliver of the moon I remarked how pretty that tiny sliver of the moon was on the way home tonight, and my friend pulled over right away so I could grab a photo. That’s when someone really knows you! It was just too beautiful to resist. 🌙
Weekend photos in review, old school style. ✨ C Weekend photos in review, old school style. ✨ 
Context: 1/ picture perfect weekend, 2/ threw together a quick meal w udon noodles, steak and broccoli, so good, 3/ the sun reflections on this painting struck me today, looked like a cross 4/ it takes all afternoon but nothing like Sunday Gravy, 5/ six months old, 6/ when he wants some serious zzzz’s, he covers his eye with his ears, the cutest, 7/ breakfast pastries at @coniglios
I have plenty of reusable shopping bags since New I have plenty of reusable shopping bags since New Jersey banned the plastic ones last year. But when I spied this beauty for a buck, how could I resist? It just is so darn happy, which makes me happy. The little things aren’t so little. 💛
Cheers to the weekend! This may look like a staged Cheers to the weekend! This may look like a staged photo, but Lola just has ZERO boundaries and Clifford is exceptionally patient. 😂
I’ve been on a smoked salmon kick lately (it’s I’ve been on a smoked salmon kick lately (it’s so good for you), so when I saw that a local patisserie has a smoked salmon croissant available (weekends only), I added it to my list of things to seek out. I popped into @chocolatinenj early on Mother’s Day and was rewarded with this deliciousness. Layers of soft flaky croissant dough, tender smoked salmon, light whipped cream, thinly sliced red and green onion slivers and dotted with capers… it was every bit as amazing as you’d imagine it would be. If you’re local, don’t sleep on this one. 😋
Weekend photos in review, the belated edition. 1/ Weekend photos in review, the belated edition.

1/ hit up a few yard sales and snagged this beautiful pasta dish from Italy with my favorite color for a buck, 2/ and one of these printer trays came home with me too, 3/ pre Mother’s Day celebrations with 30 local moms, 4/ finished the weekend supervising furniture assembly
Today would have been my friend Cathy’s 53rd bir Today would have been my friend Cathy’s 53rd birthday. Unfortunately she’s not here to celebrate because she died suddenly at age 49. I think of her often … every Mother’s Day because we spent most of them together since her husband worked weekends … when I discover a new food adventure (we once did a day long donut crawl) … when I’m sharing a special time with my kids knowing that her then-11 year old is growing up without her. Before she passed, I always appreciated every day, but since then, even more so. You never know what the next day can bring, so relish in the sunshine, surprise rainstorms, making wishes over railroad tracks and all the wonderful randomness life can throw your way. Don’t waste a single second, say yes, live on the outskirts of your comfort zone, laugh often, tell people you love them, give eight second hugs, and squeeze every ounce of joy you can out of life. Do it for the people who can’t. ✨

Copyright © 2023 Sweetnicks · Theme by Vicki Harrison Design