Chicken and Rice Stuffed Bell Peppers

I’ve seen a bunch of recipes around lately for stuffed bell peppers. All of it called for ingredients I didn’t have on hand, or did not eat. I had some chicken breast to use up, so I searched for a chicken stuffed pepper. Nothing really appealed to me. I decided to try to wing it and see what happened.

I kept it dairy free and it had a nice kick to it. When I originally thought this up, I wanted to add tomatoes, or tomato sauce, but unfortunately, I didn’t have tomatoes, and my can of tomatoes was already expired (argh!). I made it without it and it still turned out great. I used my leftover bell peppers, which was 3 green ones, one red, one orange. I recommend using the red/orange/yellow ones because they came out more tender and was sweeter than the green ones.

Chicken and Rice Stuffed Bell Peppers

Ingredients:
3/4 lb ground chicken
6 bell peppers (I recommend using red, orange, or yellow)
cooking spray
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, diced
3 stalks celery, finely diced
1 carrot, finely diced
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 cup chopped baby portabella mushrooms
2 cups cooked rice

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Trim fat from the chicken. Cut into 1 inch cubes. Place in food processor and pulse a few times to grind up the chicken. Clean and cut tops from peppers and remove seeds. Spray cooking oil on a 8x8 baking dish. Place peppers in dish.

3. In a large sauté pan, add oil and garlic. Sauté for a few minutes, or until garlic is fragrant. Add onion, celery, and carrot. Cook until onion is clear, approx. 10 min.

4. Add the ground chicken, cook until no longer pink in the middle. Add spices, chicken broth and mushrooms. Cook until mushrooms are tender. Add in the rice, combine well.

5. Spoon the filling into the bell peppers. Cover loosely with foil and bake in oven for 30-40 minutes, or until peppers are fork tender. Allow to rest for a few minutes and serve.