I love cooking with fresh ingredients. Last week green peppers were calling to me in the produce section, so I bought four.

After spring cleaning, I found pantry items that needed used. I’m too frugal to throw anything away. I had canned salsa from last fall and an old box of stuffing mix. Who knows where the stuffing mix came from, but it won’t be wasted. I made stuffed green peppers to go with chicken breasts and salad.

Stuffed Green Peppers
1 onion, diced
1⁄2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 pint salsa or canned roasted tomatoes, divided
1 box stuffing mix
2-1/2 cups chicken stock, divided
2 Tbsp. butter

Drizzle a little olive oil in an oven-safe dish. Cut off the tops of the green peppers and reserve. Clean out the seeds and ribs. Set the peppers into the dish and rub the exteriors with olive oil.

Sauté the onions in olive oil. Then add 1 cup salsa, stuffing mix, butter and 1-1⁄2 cup stock, mixing together until well incorporated. Spoon the mixture into the green peppers. Put the tops back on the stuffed peppers.
Mix the remaining salsa and stock together and pour over the peppers. Cover and cook in a 375-degree oven for 45 minutes.

While the peppers cooked, I seasoned boneless skinless chicken breasts with salt, pepper and chili powder. I seared each side in olive oil in an oven-safe pan. Covered with a lid and placed in the oven with the peppers for the remaining 25 minutes.

While those dishes finished, I prepared a simple side salad. Dinner was really tasty. It looked complex, but was very simple. In fact it was pretty filling so I ended up eating only half the pepper and saving the rest for lunch the next day.