Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed Peppers (one of infinite possibilities)

A good end-of-shopping cycle meal that uses whatever meat and vegetables you have left over.  These are stuffed with ground chicken, canned tomato, kidney beans, and lentils.  Made enough filling to stuff 3 green peppers.

Infinite variations exist.  Choose the spice combo, meat, grain/lentil, bean, and additional vegetables you have around.  The process is the same. 

Here are the estimated amounts of spices I mixed with the raw chicken:

• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. pepper
• 1 tsp. turmeric 
• 1/2 tsp. corriander
• 1 tsp. cumin
• pinch of cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. allspice 

Cook a cup of french lentils (or grain) separately.  Lentils take a 3:1 ratio of liquid to solid.  I use stock for flavor, but water works, too.  I also throw in a few whole garlic cloves and a bay leaf if for some reason I have one.  Just cook that away until its tender while you make the rest of the filling.

It would be better to start by finely chopping an onion and cooking that in the fry pan with a little oil before adding the chicken, but I didn't have an onion.  Saved calories from the oil, I guess.


Once the chicken is almost cooked through, add a large can of whole stewed tomatoes (fresh chopped tomatoes will work if you have those, but you'll need to add more stock to keep the right moisture level).  Crush them with your hands and throw 'em in.


Reduce that a little and add the rinsed can of beans and strained lentils once they are tender.  Add any additional seasoning if the flavors from the meat don't come through after the added ingredients.

Half your peppers and clean them out.  Arrange in a baking dish and stuff them once the filling is ready.  Cover with foil and put in a 400 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes until the peppers are cooked, then another 5 minutes uncovered to crisp it up.