stuffed bell peppers - mexican or italian? mexitalian!

I feel that a meal is never complete unless there is a main dish, at least one side dish, and of course dessert. I could get away with the baked mac and cheese as the main meal, and the blondies as the dessert, but what could be my side dish for this somewhat-special dinner for my boyfriend? I had 2 red bell peppers going bad from when I originally bought them for the baked ziti, and I also had a tupperware of leftover shredded chicken from the Super Bowl appetizers. I opted for the easiest preparation, which was to stuff the bell peppers with the chicken (along with other fillers). The "filler" I planned to use was rice- it was easy to cook and tastes good (as all starches are to me). To make it taste even better I figured I'd season it with some things I had around the house.


I sliced the peppers in half and took out all the gunk. Now these little babies were ready to be the perfect vehicle for all the cheesy and chickeny goodness to come.


I cooked a small pot of rice and filled each pepper half with the creamy rice (seasoned with Italian seasoning), the moist precooked chicken, and then sprinkled it with shredded Mexican cheese.


The cheese melted perfectly and seeped into the rice and chicken mixture. I was a little apprehensive to taste this multi-culturally tasting stuffed peppers.


Knowing very well that my boyfriend is not a vegetable fan, I took a huge risk in making this. Well, to be quite honest, I didn't even take into consideration what he would like while I was making these.


The most important things to me was that these would take good photos (which they did- beautiful color contrast, right?), and I would be able to clean out my fridge (bye bye old red peppers).


My boyfriend (as predicted) ate the insides, and didn't dare touch the vegetable exterior. He also commented on how this was an interesting combo of Mexican and Italian (with the inclusion of my Italian seasoning- which is the only seasoning I own). I agree- it was interesting, to say the least. Nonetheless, I enjoyed this side dish (all parts of this dish, not just the insides).

---RECIPE---
Taken from many sources.

ingredients:
2 red bell peppers
1 cup cooked rice, seasoned however
1 cup cooked chicken, shredded or cubed
A few handfuls of shredded cheese

directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cut the peppers in half and clean out the insides.
3. Place them on a baking sheet and fill with rice, chicken, and sprinkle with desired amount of cheese.
4. Bake for 20 minutes, or until cheese is all melted and peppers are tender.