Many times, the key to creating something new can be a collection of constraints. Tonight I wanted to make something new for dinner, but was limited by some dietary restrictions. So, I opened the fridge and was stuck by a cool breeze of inspiration.
Ingredients
- 6 Large Bell Peppers
- 3 Radishes
- 1 Cucumber
- 1 Clove Garlic
- 1 Teaspoon of Chopped Ginger
- 3 Frozen Chicken Strips (optional)
- 4 Pieces of Toast
- Olive Oil
- Ginger
- Lemon Juice
- 1 Tablespoon of cream cheese
- Red Pepper Flakes
- Black Pepper
- Chicken Broth (optional)
- 1 Teaspoon Better Than Bouillon Vegetable Base
Steps
1. Chop up all of your veggies. The smaller the cut, the better.
2. I sliced the bottoms off the peppers and chopped them up in the previous step.
3. I quickly sautéed a few cloves of garlic, chopped ginger, olive oil, and three frozen chicken strips. I cut up and cubed the strips in the pan as they cooked. The smaller the cubes, the better. I added some chicken broth to help thicken chicken, as well as adding a teaspoon of Better than Bouillon Vegetable Base and a teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes. Cook the broth until the chicken is fully cooked. Set aside in a bowl.
4. Next quickly & lightly sauté the cut up vegetables. Cook them as much as you wish, but I prefer crunchy peppers. Set aside in a bowl when done.
5. First toast the four pieces of bread, any will do. I used two slices of wheat bread and two slices of rye. With a little olive oil, quickly cook your bread crumbs. Top with ground black pepper. You want the toast to pick up any of the remaining flavors left in the pan from the chicken and vegetables.
6. Mix in the sautéed chicken first. This is key so the bread crumbs pick up the liquid from the cooked chicken.
7. Next, fold in the cooked vegetables. Move quickly, and use a heat-resistant rubber spatula or wooden spatula to mix the ingredients.
8. To bind everything together, I used a tablespoon of cream cheese. You could use more if you would like, but the focus is to keep the mixture light.
9. Once you have folded in the cream cheese, the mixture should look like this. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees, convection ovens work best here as rotating the air is key.
10. Stuff the pepper with the mixture, making sure to compress the stuffing into the peppers. You do not want to push too hard, but you also do not want air pockets in the peppers.
11. My little Breville convection oven was preheated to 350 degrees, and I roasted these beauties for 30 minutes.
I took these out and let them cool for two minutes before serving. I would recommend cooking them a little bit longer, but I leave that to you. Hope you enjoy these as much as I did.
