Stuffed Pepper and Spanish Rice

This plate was very delicious with sweet and spicy flavors baked in a whole sweet pepper. I used the leftover grilled chicken I made the other night and chopped it up along with some frozen, peeled and deveined shrimp that were cooked golden in some hot oil. I think frozen shrimp is a necessity in a kitchen, they come all ready to go and take 2 mins to thaw in some warm water. I chopped some older vegetables that I needed to get out of the fridge, sprinkled the whole mixture with some spices, added a little olive oil to bring it all together and then spooned the mixture into the hollowed out pepper. I cheated and the spanish rice is from a box, made by Near East, but quick and delicious. My friend Martha gave me a recipe for this Mexican staple, but it is very time consuming and includes a lot of ingredients. I will try it one day. This dish was easy and you can add any of the flavors or leftovers you want, and plus, peppers are packed with vitamin C.

Ingredients:

• chopped grilled chicken
• chopped grilled shrimp
• finely chopped garlic, zucchini, red onion, and sweet onion
• chopped cauliflower
• salt, pepper, cumin, chili pepper, and crushed red pepper
• olive oil
• whole, hollowed pepper

Just for fun, here is a little jar windowsill treatment that I created recently, utilizing two different types of succulents, lavender, and two pears.  The “for rent” sign in the back is quite classy.