Chicken and Black Bean Chili Stuff Peppers

I finally finished my big pot of  Mexican Style Black Beans.  I could have frozen most of it, but I was determined to come up with recipes for all of of it.  Here is my final recipe and I am really excited about this one. I love a good bowl of chili and I almost always put black beans in it.  So it was a not a big deal for me to make some chili with this last batch of beans.  I decided I had to give the beans a little more "love" so instead of just serving them in a bowl, I stuffed it into a bell pepper.  I have never made stuffed peppers so the process was a little new to me and I was jumping up and down when it all came out of the oven. We ate them with a simple cucumber salad and it was great low-carb meal.  This may be my first time stuffing a pepper with chili, but it certainly won't be my last time.   

Ingredients:
1lb of ground chicken (or any lean ground meat)
3-4 strips of bacon diced (optional)
2-3 cups of Mexican Style Black Beans
1 large can of Bush's Vegetarian Baked Beans (or brown sugar to taste)
1 medium onion diced
4-6 large bell peppers (tops diced)
1-2 Tbs of chili con carne powder
1-2 tsp of cumin powder
1 tsp ground oregano
1/2 tsp of poultry seasoning (if you use chicken or turkey)
2-3 cloves of garlic grated
1/2 cup of water
red chili flakes to taste
1/2 cup to 1 cup of grated cheese (I used Monterrey Jack)

 Directions:
Prior to making the chili, heat oven to 450 degrees.  Put hollowed out bell peppers in the oven for 12 minutes to precook them before stuffing them. While the peppers are precooking, start the chili.

In a large pan saute bacon. If you prefer not to use bacon, you can skip this step and just add some oil into the pan. If you use bacon drain everything except 1Tbs of bacon oil.  Next brown the ground chicken.
 



Then add onion, garlic and diced bell pepper to the pan and saute for a few minutes. Next add the seasonings and saute for a few minutes.
 

 


Then add the seasoned black beans next. Note: If you decide to use canned black beans, you will have to add more seasoning since the beans used here are pre-seasoned.

Also add Bush's Baked Vegetarian Beans for added sweetness. If you don't have this available to you, add a sprinkle of brown sugar (about 2tsp up to 1Tbs) to balance the flavors. I recommend Bush's baked beans because they use natural brown sugar in their product and I also like the added beans they give to the chili. I am not affiliated with the Bush's brand.  I just like their beans. 

Add 1/2 a cup of water and allow the chili to cook for 10-15 minutes. Taste for seasoning.  
 




Stuff the peppers with the chili mixture.  Fill them a little over the top of the pepper rim. Then top with the grated cheese and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Serve hot. Enjoy.

Copyright: All recipes, content, and images (unless otherwise stated) are the sole property of Curry and Comfort. Please do not use without prior written consent. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.