WHAT'S COOKING | CHICKEN AND RICE STUFFED PEPPERS

Last week I had a hankering for stuffed peppers and chicken kabobs. Naturally, the only thing to do is a mash-up between the two and voila, we get chicken stuffed peppers.  The flavor was amazing and even as we were eating it, I kept thinking of all the different ways to eat this even as leftovers.  And by the way, this tasted so dang good as leftovers the next day.

 

The best part is that we already had the ingredients lying around the house which always makes trying out a new recipe even better.  I only snapped one quick (and not so glamorous) picture of the finished product because I was so excited to get this in my belly asap.  So let's just get straight to the recipe.

 

Chicken and Rice Stuffed Peppers

 

4 green bell peppers

4 slices mozzarella cheese

1 c shredded Italian blend cheese (or mozzarella)

1/2 c Italian dressing, divided

2-3 chicken breasts

2 boxes wild rice (I used Rice a Roni)

 

Trim the fat off the chicken breasts, slice breasts into thin halves and marinade with 1/4 c Italian dressing.  Cut the caps off the bell peppers and remove any seeds from the inside.  Begin cooking the rice according to the directions on the box and warm up the grill to about 400-425 degrees.

 

Place the peppers on the grill laying them on their side.  You'll want to rotate the peppers 90 degrees every 5 minutes or so.  At this time place the chicken on the grill too.  The chicken should be ready to flip after about 10 minutes.  When the peppers and chicken are cooked, remove from the grill.  By now the rice should be cooked as well.

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Place the peppers upright in a lightly greased baking dish.  Place one slice of mozzarella cheese on the bottom of each pepper.  Cut the chicken breasts into small chunks (bite-sized). Mix the chicken and cooked rice together adding the additional 1/4 c of Italian dressing.

 

Scoop the chicken/rice mix into the peppers and the remaining amount in the dish spreading it around the peppers.  Top each of the peppers and any extra chicken/rice with the shredded cheese.  Cook for about 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and gooey.

 

Scoop those peppers onto a plate and get eating!

 

The leftovers did taste really great.  We didn't have any peppers left over, but there was plenty of the chicken/rice mix left.  One great way to eat the leftovers is to steam some broccoli and mix that into it.