Unstuffed Bell Peppers

This is a great recipe when you have tons of peppers in your fridge and you don't quite know what to do with all of them. My in-laws came to visit for the 4th of July this year and they rented a house. It was a lot of fun. We got to watch the parade, ride our bikes and then watch fireworks off of the pier that night. It's one of my favorite holidays! On the day they were all headed home, they left us with all the food they didn't eat. These weren't just little things. They went to costco. We still have rice, beans, guacamole, salsa, onions, carrots, lettuce, and I'm sure there's more. So, I had this giant bag of peppers and I needed to use them before they went bad. I came across this recipe and it was just what I was looking for. And, my husband loved it. He ate the leftovers. That's the true sign that it was good. 

I got the recipe from Heat oven to 350 

Ingredients: 

3 slices bacon

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 1-inch pieces

2 medium onions, coarsely chopped

1 tsp minced garlic

1 1/2 cups rice

1 1/2 tsp dried basil

1/4 tsp thyme

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 bay leaf

3 cups low sodium chicken broth

1 cup pureed tomatoes (I use fresh, but canned works too)

1 T brown sugar

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 red bell pepper, cut lengthwise into 1/4 inch strips

1 green bell pepper, cut lengthwise into 1/4 inch strips

1 orange bell pepper, cut lengthwise into 1/4 inch strips

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

 

Directions:

1. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook bacon until browned and crisp, about 4 minutes on each side. Remove from skillet and allow to drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Add the chicken and cook until browned on the outside and just barely cooked through. Remove the chicken from the skillet.

2. Add onions to skillet and cook until browned, about five minutes. Add garlic and cook an additional 30 seconds.

3. Add rice, basil, thyme, red pepper flakes, bay leaf, chicken broth, tomatoes, brown sugar and black pepper to the skillet. Cover, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, crumble the cooked bacon into small pieces.

 

4. Add the peppers, chicken and bacon to the skillet, stir and cover. Simmer for an additional 5 minutes. Stir in half of the Parmesan cheese, season to taste with salt and pepper, then use the remaining cheese to top individual servings.

Makes 4-6 servings