Who doesn’t love stuffed pepper poppers? Well, probably anyone who doesn’t like too much heat or is trying to eat healthy since they are breaded and deep-fried. The only guilt that you will feel eating these stuffed peppers is how many of them you will end up eating, but don’t worry they are actually pretty healthy too. The grilled jerk chicken is just a bonus yummy!
I know, it looks like a lot of ingredients, but lots of flavor takes a little work and it’s not really so much stuff. By the way, this recipe works best on the grill but it was pouring rain outside, so everything was done on the stove or in the oven and worked out just fine!
Start out by making the world’s worst smoothy. Combine 2-3 green onions (white and green parts), 1 large shallot, 1 T brown sugar, 2 T fresh lime juice, 2 T olive oil, 1/2 t allspice, 4 cloves of garlic, and a large Serrano chili in a food processor (or in our case, the Ninja cup). Someone will notice that in the first picture, we did not use a serrano. The store didn’t have them so I subbed an Anaheim. Use the chili of your choice based on heat and flavor preferences (our favorite is poblano). Blend it until smooth, and remember, be careful of touching your eyes, nose, mouth, or anything else you love. (On a side note, be really careful cleaning up afterwards, those pepper oils can really mess up the next thing you make in the same bowl.)
Pour the mixture into a bowl or baggie and add 6-8 chicken thighs, legs, drums, breasts, or what ever else you have lying around. We’ve used different cuts but prefer thighs for this recipe. Let it sit while you prep the peppers.
In another bowl, combine 1/4 c finely chopped green onion, another finely diced shallot, 1 T lime juice, 2 T chopped cilantro, 4 oz (half a package) of reduced fat cream cheese, 1/2 C FAGE 2% Greek yogurt and mix well. Scoop it all into a baggie and toss it back in the fridge for a minute.
Take a bag of mini sweet peppers and cut in half and core them. Arrange onto a grill pan. Take the bag of filling and snip the corner of the bag off to create a piping bag. Pipe filling into each pepper. I missed taking a picture of this step, guess I was too hungry!
Heat your grill and start the chicken first. The peppers will take almost as long so get them going right away. I usually place them directly on the grate but if the peppers are small, you may want to put down a piece of foil or use a grill pan so they don’t fall through. Turn the chicken and rearrange the peppers if your grill heat is uneven. You want the chicken crispy on the edges and the bottoms of the peppers blistered but not burnt. The filling will not get very melty if you use reduced fat cheese, so you have to peek underneath.
Serve with some fresh lime wedges and some crusty bread. Let us know how hot you like your jerk in the comments below!
Here’s the original recipe from Cooking Light magazine and here is the version with my modifications.
