The peppadew pepper appetizer at Romano’s Macaroni Grill seemed to be pretty low-carb, but who knows? There could be breadcrumbs or other high carb ingredients that aren’t obvious.

Here’s a similar recipe I’ve put together:

• 10-12 peppadew peppers (one cup – 7 net grams of carbs)

(You can buy these in the jar or near the olive bar in some grocery stores. I like the hot ones.)

• 4 oz. cream cheese – 4.8 grams carbs
• Oregano or other seasoning
• Balsamic vinegar

The real peppers use goat cheese, which is fine. I just happened to be out of goat cheese one day, and substituted the cream cheese. The peppers are so spicy (almost like a jalapeno), that I didn’t notice the difference. And cream cheese is a little cheaper.

Simply take little dabs of softened cream cheese, roll them a little and stuff them into the peppers. Put on a cookie sheet – or in a Pyrex pie plate (which is easy to serve from after cooled). Bake at 400 degrees for about 8 minutes.

Drizzle with the vinegar.

YUM!

Carb count: ~12 grams of carbs for 12 peppers, or 1 gram per pepper

The tough part is only eating a few!

By the way, I’m guessing on the carb count. There are 7 grams in one cup, and I’m going to guess 10-12 peppers are about a cup, depending on their size.