Chicken & Orzo Stuffed Bell Peppers

I found this recipe online a few months ago when I decided I wanted to try my hand at stuffed peppers. Simon loves bell peppers and so I thought it would be nice to find a recipe we both really enjoyed.  It only took one try and we are set on this one!!  I have now made it twice and both times they turned out well.  The original recipe called for a red, orange and yellow pepper  but... these are cheaper.  A set of 3 for 99 cents at Aldi! 

 The first time I made 3, like the recipe calls for.

With my parents here (they visited last week- will post on that later) I altered the recipe to make 4.  

The recipe is long and there are a lot of ingredients but over all I think the recipe is worth it and doesn't take as long as one might imagine.  It really is enough food on its own.  We ate it with some flat bread but only because I wasn't sure how filling it would be the first time.  I also like that I am able to clean up during the recipe's down time so there is little mess afterward.  

Okay, so here it is:

Ingredients: (there are a lot)

 (I chose not to halve the peppers but rather to cut off the tops because I served 1 per person to 3 people rather than 1/2 to 6 people like the recipe suggests. 

-3 bell peppers; halved, seeded and stemmed. 

-1 Tbsp butter

-2 Tbsp olive oil

-3 green onions; sliced

-3 cloves of garlic; minced

-1 boneless, skinless chicken breast cubed (the smaller cubes the better)

-1 tsp pepper

-1 tsp ground cumin

-1 cup orzo; uncooked

-1 (16oz) can chicken broth

-3 Tbsp parmesan cheese

2 tsp olive oil

1 tsp butter

1/2-1 cup portobello mushrooms chopped

1 green onion; thinly sliced

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375.

Spray inside of peppers with cooking spray and place in bake pan (I used a loaf pan).

Bake peppers until slightly tender.  15-20 minutes

Heat 1 Tbsp butter and 2 Tbsp olive oil in large skillet over med heat.  Stir in 3 green onions and garlic until fragrant (2-3 min)

Add chicken, pepper, cumin and cook until chicken is no longer pink.  (4-5 minutes)

Add uncooked orzo and chicken broth; simmer until orzo is cooked though but firm to bite.  (10 min)

Spoon chicken/orzo mixture into peppers and sprinkle with cheese. 

(You can pack them full, just don't go over the top- need room for mushroom mix)

Bake in oven until cheese is melted (7 min)

Heat 2 tsp olive oil and 1 tsp butter in small skillet.  

Cook and stir in mushrooms and the remaining (1) green onion until tender (5 min).  Season with salt and pepper.  

Spoon about 2 Tbsp mushroom mix onto each bell pepper.

Serve immediately