Stuffed Bell Peppers with Pimento Cheese

Yellow bell peppers ready to stuff. 

I saw these beautiful yellow bell peppers at the grocery and it reminded me I hadn't had stuffed bell peppers in a long time.  I had just made a delicious sauce from a recipe on Cook for Good, a blog I follow.  The sauce is great to have on hand for spaghetti, pasta, or in this case to use in stuffing the peppers.

To two cups of the sauce I added a cup of black lentils, the diced pepper that I had from removing the top of the peppers, and another cup of fresh thinly sliced kale.  I intended to keep this a vegetarian version of stuffed peppers so no meat. I like to keep on hand pouches of Simply balanced black lentils.  In just 90 seconds in the microwave they are ready to eat.

After removing the top and the inside core of the peppers, I steamed them for about 10 minutes so they would be more tender when baked.  If you like your peppers crunchy then you can omit this step.

To add some protein to the dish, I planned to add cheese to the sauce, but alas I had only pimento cheese.  So why not try that I thought?  I mixed 1 and a half cups of the sauce mixture and 1/2 cup of pimento cheese and stuffed the peppers.

They were baked in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 35 minutes.  The pimento cheese added a wonderful flavor to the peppers.

This is a vegetarian recipe that I intend to keep.

Cottage Cheese and Blackberry Salad

Cottage Cheese and Blackberry Salad. 

Jeanette and I watched the Duke-UNC basketball game together last night.  She  brought oyster stew and mussels from 42nd Street Oyster Bar, and I made a salad and a dessert.  While shopping at the Fresh Market I spied a container of luscious blackberries that I snapped up as an inspiration for my salad.  I had cottage cheese that I wanted to use and I googled for a salad recipe using those two ingredients.  I found just what I needed.

The recipe called for balsamic glaze that I easily made by adding 1/4 cup sugar to 1 cup of balsamic vinegar in a saucepan and reducing it to about half over medium heat.  This took about 30 minutes.  This can be stored in the fridge for a week or two for future use.  It is much cheaper to make your own balsamic glaze if you have balsamic vinegar on hand.

Balsamic glaze.

On each salad plate I placed a cup of mixed greens and garnished them with the blackberries.

Mixed greens garnished with blackberries. 

I drizzled balsamic glaze over the berries and the greens.

 A scoop of cottage cheese was placed in the middle of each (about 1/3 cup) .

I happened to have both sliced almonds and dried cranberries that I used to garnish the final salad.

This salad made for a good first course that was followed by a bowl of delicious oyster stew and a side of steamed mussels in a garlic butter sauce.

Steamed PEI mussels from 42nd Street Oyster Bar.

First course of Cottage Cheese Blackberry Salad.  

And in case you haven't heard the Carolina Tarheels came through with a big win!!!!

Another Great Recipe from the Barefoot Contessa: Chicken Stew

Chicken Stew with Biscuits. 

I was expecting friends for dinner a few weeks ago, and I wanted to have something that could be prepared in advance and that would serve more or less as a one dish meal.  Recipes from the Barefoot Contessa never fail.  This Chicken Stew with Biscuits filled the bill perfectly.

• For the stew:
• 3 whole (6 split) chicken breasts, bone in, skin on (I used chicken thighs because I like dark meat.)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 5 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
• 2 chicken bouillon cubes
• 12 tablespoons (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 2 cups chopped yellow onions (2 onions)
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 2 cups medium-diced carrots (4 carrots), blanched for 2 minutes
• 1 10-ounce package frozen peas (2 cups)
• 1 1/2 cups frozen small whole onions (I substituted mushrooms for this.)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1 egg mixed with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash.

Ina Garten included a recipe for making the biscuits, but I cheated and used canned  biscuits instead.  

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Place the chicken breasts on a sheet pan and rub them with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, or until cooked through. Set aside until cool enough to handle, then remove the meat from the bones and discard the skin. Cut the chicken into large dice. You will have 4 to 6 cups of cubed chicken.

In a small saucepan, heat the chicken stock and dissolve the bouillon cubes in the stock. In a large pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter and sauté the onions over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until translucent. Add the flour and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add the hot chicken stock to the sauce. Simmer over low heat for 1 more minute, stirring, until thick. Add 2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and the heavy cream. Add the cubed chicken, carrots, peas, onions, and parsley. Mix well. Place the stew in a 10 x 13 x 2-inch oval or rectangular baking dish. Place the baking dish on a sheet pan lined with parchment or wax paper. Bake for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the biscuits. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the butter and mix on low speed until the butter is the size of peas. Add the half-and-half and combine on low speed. Mix in the parsley.

Dump the dough out on a well-floured board and, with a rolling pin, roll out to 3/8 inch thick. Cut out twelve circles with a 2-1/2 inch round cutter.

Remove the stew from the oven and arrange the biscuits on top of the filling. Brush them with egg wash, and return the dish to the oven. Bake for another 20 to 30 minutes, until the biscuits are brown and the stew is bubbly.

This recipe is from her Family Style Cookbook.  

I added a salad and it was a fine simple and delicious meal.