"What's With You and Buffalo Chicken Lately?" : Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Peppers

The boyfriend asked me that recently: "What's with you and buffalo chicken?" It's a fair question; I've been making  tons of stuff with buffalo chicken lately. But it's so easy to make and great to have on hand because it's so versatile and relatively healthy (just poached chicken and hot sauce!). I had 2 cups of shredded buffalo chicken left over from another recipe and I was trying to decide to do with it when I remembered that I had a few green peppers that needed to be used. I ate stuffed peppers a lot growing up, but my mom always made them the same way. I decided to take that method and make a few changes to accommodate my buffalo chicken.

Ingredients:

 Peppers:

2 cups cooked brown rice (1/2 cup dry will yield about 2 cups cooked)

2 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, roughly chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

2 cups shredded buffalo chicken (poach 3 chicken breasts, shred, mix in hot sauce to taste)

2 cups broccoli or cabbage slaw

3 or 4 medium/large bell peppers

Glaze:

1 small onion, grated

3-4 tbsp cider or balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tbsp hot sauce

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

 

Directions:

Preheat Oven to 350 Degrees.

 Preheat olive oil over medium-low heat.  Add garlic and onions and cook for about 20 minutes until onion is soft and translucent.

 While the onions are cooking, prepare your peppers. I cut off the tops and removed the ribs and seeds. You could also cut them in half top-to-bottom and hollow them out to make little boats.

When the onions are soft, add chicken and rice. Mix well and remove from heat. Add slaw mix and set chicken mixture aside.

Now I would like to welcome you to the "Tracy Tossed Random Things in a Pot" portion of this post:     

Start making your glaze by grating your other onion directly into a saucepan 
(yummm onion juice...bonus tip: add a tablespoon of this to your next batch of Bloody Mary's)

 Add the rest of your ingredients to the grated onion and whisk well. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Turn heat to medium-low and let your glaze reduce.

Place peppers in a baking dish and fill with the chicken mixture. Top with your glaze and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until peppers start to soften.

This is a delicious and filling meal that can be adapted to suit your tastes. I made up the glaze as I went along, working out the ratios based on my taste. A glaze isn't really necessary, but I like sauce so I went for it. You only live once, right?

**Note** It is important to use fresh rice for this because it acts as a binder. Using moist, fluffy rice ensures that your chicken mixture stays together and won't crumble as soon as you cut into your pepper.

Enjoy!

Tracy