When it comes to creating something fun in the kitchen, one of the best things to do is to mix it up! Surprise your guests with a little something from here, something from there, and let the palate be your guide!

So we’ll “start” our journey in Spain with something that makes as nice a presentation as it makes a delight on the taste-buds in the form of Basque Country Pimientos Rellenos (Stuffed Peppers). What we do with this delicious course is layer sautéed mixed vegetables, minced mushrooms and sausage topped with a light or soy cheese and a cracked egg and then bake them in a hollowed out bell pepper. Mushrooms provide lean proteins since they have no cholesterol or fat and are very low in carbohydrates. The high lean protein content in mushrooms helps burn cholesterol when they are digested and balance levels of cholesterol between LDL cholesterol and HDL, which is essential in the prevention of various cardiovascular diseases like artherosclerosis, heart attack, and stroke. Bell pepper is a source of over 30 different members of the carotenoid nutrient family. Six of these carotenoids (alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, lycopene, lutein, cryptoxanthin and zeaxanthin) are critical and only two vegetables contained at least two-thirds of all of those. One of these foods was tomato, and the other was sweet bell pepper. Bell pepper provides 12% of the total zeaxanthin found in the diet.

Onward to cooking our magical Basque Country Stuffed Peppers:

Basque Country Stuffed Peppers:

Ingredients:

6 red bell peppers
6 whole large eggs
2 large carrots, sliced
2 medium zucchini, sliced
6 stalks celery, sliced
1 fresh organic corn cob, corn removed
8 ounces brown mushrooms, chopped
6 ounces turkey or chicken chorizo or other sausage
6 ounces low-fat white cheese or soy cheese
1 medium-size Spanish yellow onion, peeled and chopped
1 medium-size green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2 TBSP extra-virgin olive oil
Cooked green beans and pepperoncini on the side

Preparation:

• Put 1 TBSP olive oil in a large pan set over a medium-high and heat until it begins to shimmer. Add onions, bell pepper and garlic, stir to combine and cook until the onions have started to soften, approximately 10 minutes. Add carrots and celery and sauté until celery is just getting starting to get tender, then add zucchini and sauté for 5 minutes more. Remove vegetables and set aside.
• In the same pan, add the remaining 1 TBSP olive oil, heat over medium-high then add the mushrooms and sausage and corn, cook until the sausage is well browned. Remove pan from heat.
• Set several quarts of salted water to boil. Cut the tops off of the red bell peppers, seed and core them. Place them in the boiling water, using a spoon to keep them submerged. Boil for three minutes, then drain.
• Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a deep baking dish, place the bell peppers in, cut-side up. Fill the bottom 2/3rds of the red peppers with the vegetable mixture, then layer on 1/6th of the mushroom-sausage mixture, add a small layer of cheese. Crack a whole egg on top of each for the final layer. Add 1/4 cup of water to the baking dish, place in the oven for 40-50 minutes. Serve with cooked green beans and pepperoncini on the side.