Chicken Fajita Stuffed Peppers

I admit. I haven’t been eating the best lately. I’ve been getting my nutrition from conveniently microwavable Kashi brand dinners, soups and pasta with tomato sauce. This period of the semester has seemingly left me no time for anything but. And I hate it. On Tuesday, I finally had some time to myself so I decided to treat myself and cook Chris and I a nice meal for dinner: Chicken Fajita Stuffed Peppers that I found on Pinterest.

Photo credit: Lyuba @ willcookforsmiles.com

We made our Chicken Fajita Stuffed Peppers with red and yellow peppers and stuffed them with fajita marinated grilled chicken and Spanish Rice-A-Roni. Delicious doesn’t even begin to describe them! They were a hit! Even his house mates were raving about them after only peeking at them in the oven!

Ingredients
Marinade:

• 1/3 cup grapeseed oil
• 1 Tbsp. lime juice
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1/2 tsp. chili pepper seasoning*
• Salt
• 2 garlic cloves, grated
• 2 chicken breasts

Stuffed Peppers:

• Cooked chicken from above
• 3 bell peppers
• 1/2 c. chipped yellow onion
• 1 medium tomato, chopped
• 5 oz. uncooked Spanish rice
• 1 tsp. fresh minced cilantro
• 6-8 Tbsp. Mexican cheese mix

*Note: for the chili pepper seasoning, we used a home-made chili seasoning recipe. (Ingredients include: 4 tbsp. chili powder, 1 tsp. garlic powder, 1 tsp. onion powder, 1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes, 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper, 1 tsp. dried oregano, 2 tsp. paprika, 2 tsp. ground cumin, 3 tsp. sea salt and 4 tsp. black pepper)

Directions

• Combine ingredients for Fajita marinade in a large mixing bowl and whisk well. Add chicken to the marinade and let it marinade for about 15 minutes.
• Preheat an oven-safe skillet on stove-top at medium heat.
• Add chicken and the marinade to the skillet and cook until chicken is fully done, flipping it half way through.
• While the chicken is cooking, prepare Spanish rice according to the package and set aside.
• Take chicken breasts out and lay them on a cutting board. Dice the chicken once it is cooled enough to handle.
• Saute chopped onions and tomato in the same skillet.
• In a large, clean mixing bowl, combine Spanish rice, diced chicken, sauteed onions and tomato (including the marinade that was leftover in the skillet) and cilantro. Mix well and taste to see if you need to add a little more salt.
• Preheat the oven to 375.
• Cut the bell peppers in half (lengthwise) and clean them out, taking out all the seeds and membrane.
• Lay the bell pepper halves in the skillet, like little cups, and fill them with the rice and chicken mixture.
• Sprinkle about 1-2 tablespoons of cheese on top. Place the skillet in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until the peppers are cooked. (Bake them longer if you want the peppers softer.)

All together it took about 45 minutes to make, but it was so simple and easy that I definitely want to make them again.

My version!

The recipe called for a skillet but unfortunately… and let me stress UNFORTUNATELY, we do not own one at this point so we just put them on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and baked them that way. It worked out just as well (I imagine).

I also, after cutting them, realized I cut them width-wise, instead of lengthwise. It didn’t really affect the meal at all, other than it made them a little more difficult to eat as the rice fell out of the ends more easily. But whatever! Trial and error. I’ll just have to keep that in mind next time.

 

Chris enjoyed them so much he was still talking about them two days later!
Rating: 8.5