Pepper and Chicken Nachos

Image from Southern Living

Remember my girl cherub wanted a cookbook from her school's book fair?

It was all about using rotisserie chicken.

Yep, makes a momma proud!

Let's cut to the chase!

This weekend, I roasted 2 whole chickens and a turkey breast so that meals this week would throw together in a snap.

Today, I ran home, used some of the already-cooked-chicken to throw together this recipe from my her new cookbook.

We all really liked it and it was great to have something out of the ordinary for dinner!

Now!  I did make a wee little change!

I didn't have time to mess with making "nachos." 

I didn't want to roast the peppers, nor did I want to mess with serving the "nachos," although the idea is very cute!

Instead, I just made stuffed peppers with the chicken concoction and we were happy!

Pepper and Chicken Nachos

4 garlic cloves, pressed

1/4 cup cider vinegar (I 2 TBSP)                              

1/3 cup olive oil   (I used 2 TBSP) 

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

4 medium-size bell peppers, cut into 2-inch pieces (I left whole to stuff)         

2 cups chopped deli-roasted chicken

1 (15 1/2-oz.) can black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed

1 (7.5-oz.) package sliced sharp Cheddar cheese (I used pepper jack & only 1/2 this amount)              

1/3 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves (I totally forgot to put this in!  Oops!)                              

 

If you are making the original recipe, start here!  If you want my modification, go to the bold:

 

 Preheat grill to 350° to 400° (medium-high) heat. Combine garlic and next 5 ingredients. Reserve 3 Tbsp. garlic mixture. Pour remaining garlic mixture into a large shallow dish; add peppers, turning to coat. Cover and chill 15 minutes, turning once. Remove peppers from marinade, reserving marinade for basting.   Grill peppers, covered with grill lid, 8 to 10 minutes or until peppers blister and are tender, turning occasionally and basting with marinade. 

 Preheat broiler with oven rack 4 inches from heat. Combine chicken and peas with reserved 3 Tbsp. garlic mixture. Place peppers in a single layer on a lightly greased rack in an aluminum foil-lined broiler pan. Quarter cheese slices. Top each pepper with chicken mixture and one cheese quarter.

Broil 4 to 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Remove from oven, sprinkle with cilantro, and serve immediately.


MODIFICATION:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine everything together, except for the bell peppers and the cilantro (which I left out on accident). 

Clean the peppers, remove the stems and seeds.

Using a spoon, fill and pack each pepper with the meat mixture, stuffing well.  Place peppers in a large muffin tin to stand up, or fit snugly in a small pan together.

Bake for 45-55 minutes, until the peppers are soft.  All of the ingredients are cooked, so you are really heating the mixture and cooking the peppers to your preference.

Serve with a salad.

From:  Southern Living ; JULY 2011