Festive Chicken Roulades

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Special occasion food doesn’t have to be complicated. Sometimes, it’s the simplest flavors that have the most impact, and this is one of many lessons I learned during the few years that I pitched in at a catering kitchen back in the ’90s. But when an occasion calls for something “fancy,” there are a few tricks you can use to elevate your presentation of simple ingredients. Roulades are a great example of this concept, and it’s only a little bit of extra effort, but the impact is always great!

Despite the special appearance of roulades, they’re actually quite easy to make, using whatever fillings sound good to you. This time, mine are bearing festive hues of green and red (just like Christmas), with crowd-pleasing flavors of spinach, feta and sun-dried tomato. The filling is accented with sautéed shallots, garlic and Italian herb blend, and these pretty pinwheels are delicious alongside some roasted garlic mashed potatoes. 

Are you ready to get cookin’?

My flavors are Mediterranean, but there are so many possibilities!

Special tools

You’ll want to have a few items handy to successfully prep the chicken breasts, and the most important is a sharp, sturdy paring knife that you can use to open up a plump breast into a wider piece that can be pounded flat. A large chef’s knife is not recommended for safety reasons; using a smaller knife allows you to cut with more precision. Begin by holding the thick side of the breast toward you, and make several shallow slits lengthwise, opening the breast as you go, until it lays flat on the parchment. Take your time, and don’t use heavy pressure on the knife. Nobody wants to be at urgent care the week before Christmas.

Make a shallow slit along the thicker side.
Open up the breast and continue making shallow cuts, a little at a time.
Stop cutting when the breast will lay flat.

Next, you’ll need parchment or waxed paper and a smooth meat mallet for pounding the chicken. Don’t rush this, and don’t use the textured side of the mallet or you may accidentally split the fibers of the meat. The goal is to gently pound out the breast between layers of paper until it is an even 1/4-inch thickness (or as close to it as you can get). This makes the chicken more flexible for rolling up around your chosen filling ingredients, but don’t go thinner than 1/4-inch, or your chicken will tear apart.

Make a gentle swiping motion from center to edges.
Ideal thickness is 1/4 inch.
Use the tip of your knife to cut out the tendon.

Filling for the roulades

Just about any ingredients you like can be layered into chicken roulades, though I don’t recommend “melty” cheeses because they will always ooze out and make a mess in the oven. If you want a cheesy accent, stick with small amounts of firm cheeses, such as feta, bleu or Parmesan. Whatever vegetables you choose, chop everything small so that the filling rolls up easily and doesn’t fall out of the roulades when you bake them.

Use olive oil or butter to sauté, and remember to season every layer!

Second, cook any vegetable fillings until they are soft and tender. Raw ingredients rolled up inside the chicken will give off extra moisture and throw off the cooking time, and you’re also likely to have some unpleasant textures. To make the colors of my filling stand out, so I cooked the sun-dried tomatoes and spinach separately, but there would be no harm in cooking it all together to save a little time.

Don’t miss a chance to add flavor!

A little Italian herb seasoning and a pinch of Calabrian chile flakes gave my sun-dried tomato mixture some pizazz, and then I simmered with a splash of chicken stock until all the liquid was cooked off. To add depth to the spinach and garlic filling, I braised it in a shot of dry vermouth, again cooking until the excess moisture was evaporated. Dry white wine would be fine here; I just never have one open anymore and the vermouth is more interesting.

Cook off all excess moisture so that your roulades hold their shape in the oven.

My chicken was layered with the spinach mixture, then thin slices of salty feta, and finally the sun-dried tomato mixture. Begin rolling from the pointed end of each butterflied breast, so that the fillings stay secure inside. The great thing about roulades is that any part of this could be done in advance to save precious time when you’re ready to entertain. You could even roll and refrigerate them in advance and just pull the whole baking sheet out of the fridge an hour before you bake.

My filling arrangement even looks a little bit like a Christmas tree! 😉

Secure the roulades with toothpicks, or stretch and wrap thin bacon slices all around before placing them (seams or bacon ends down) on a parchment-lined baking sheet. These go straight into the oven— no browning or searing is needed— and they’ll need about 40 minutes at 350° F. Let them cool a few minutes before slicing into one-inch thick rounds. Serve immediately.

The bacon adds flavor, and also works to hold the roulades together.

These festive chicken roulades were moist, tender and so flavorful. It made a delicious entree with Les’s amazing roasted garlic mashed potatoes, but I could also imagine them with polenta or risotto with these Italian-themed ingredients. But there are lots of other flavorful possibilities. Now that you know how to make roulades, drop a note in the comments to let me know what filling flavors you would like to try!

Festive Chicken Roulades

  • Servings: 4 generous portions
  • Difficulty: Average
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With favorite flavors and a few easy techniques, you can transform simple ingredients into something special for holiday entertaining. These roulades are filled with spinach and sun-dried tomato, but as long as your filling ingredients are chopped small and pre-cooked, the possibilities are endless!


Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 pound package skinless, boneless chicken breasts (see notes)
  • 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, divided (you’ll use half each for sautéing the spinach and tomato mixtures)
  • 2 fat handfuls baby spinach leaves, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
  • 2 Tbsp. dry white wine (or vermouth, which is my go-to)
  • 1/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes (see notes)
  • 1 medium shallot, finely diced
  • 1/2 tsp. dried Italian herb blend
  • A pinch of red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 cup chicken broth or stock
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 4 oz. dry feta, cut into thin slices or crumbled
  • 2 slices thin-cut bacon for each chicken breast used

Notes: The chicken breasts can be any size, and you don’t need to have one breast for each person you’re serving. They will be sliced into rounds, so as long as you have the appropriate weight package, you’ll have enough.

The sun-dried tomatoes I use are soft and pliable, ready straight from the package. If using very dry ones, rehydrate them briefly in hot water or chicken broth and then pat them dry. If using sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, there’s no need for additional oil for sautéing them with the shallots.

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350° F, with rack in center position. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Butterfly the chicken breasts; use a sharp paring knife to cut shallow slits along the fat edge of the breasts, opening as you go until the breasts lay flat on the counter. Place between layers of parchment or waxed paper and pound gently with the smooth side of a meat mallet until they are a uniform, 1/4-inch thickness. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
  3. Heat one tablespoon of the oil over medium heat. Add the sun-dried tomatoes and shallots and sauté until tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper, plus Italian herb blend and red pepper flakes. Add chicken stock or broth, simmering until the liquid evaporates. Cool completely.
  4. Heat remaining olive oil over medium heat. Add the chopped spinach and garlic and sauté until spinach is fully wilted. Season with salt and pepper, and stir in dry white wine; continue cooking just until the liquid evaporates. Cool completely.
  5. Place the butterflied chicken breasts in front of you, with the pointed ends at the top. Divide spinach mixture evenly over the breasts, then arrange the feta and sun-dried tomato mixture. Roll each chicken breast tightly, starting at the narrow top so that you finish with a long edge. Use toothpicks to secure the edges of the chicken to the roulades, or gently stretch two slices of bacon to wrap around each breast, covering as much as possible.
  6. Bake the roulades (uncovered) 35 to 45 minutes, or until bacon is fully cooked and chicken is opaque but not dry. Internal temp should be ~165° F. Let roulades rest at least five minutes, then slice into one-inch thick rounds and serve immediately.

Turkey & Black Bean Stacked Tostadas

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South-of-the-border flavors have been a mainstay in my diet since I was in the first grade. I spent a few of my formative years in southern Colorado with my mother, so cooking and eating Mexican food feels like a homecoming for me. The foods of that region had so much flavor and complexity, and the fact that the earliest Mexican foods I ate were homemade means the bar is set pretty high for me.

With Cinco de Mayo coming up this week, I wanted to share a fun meal that is as versatile as it is delicious. Though most of the Mexican food my mom made at home was some version of ground beef tacos, she occasionally dabbled into more involved recipes, and at some point when I visited her as an adult, she made something she called “stacked tostadas.” I loved them! With crunchy tortilla shells, warm ground meat and melty shredded cheese, they satisfied all my texture cravings, and the authentic flavors took me back to my younger years.

This recipe is not quite the same as what my mom made, and I doubt she even worked from a recipe but from whatever she had on hand at the time. A few of the ingredients are necessary, including the corn tortillas and cheese, but the other fillings are subjective. The thing that really makes this dish is the red sauce— it’s bold and flavorful, but not tomato-based. Rather, it is built on ground chile peppers.

For as long as I can remember, one of the staple seasonings in my mother’s arsenal was a pure chile powder that came in a generic looking cellophane packet with a white label and red lettering. It was made by a local, southern Colorado company, which had a whole line of other products as well, but I most remember the“chile molido puro.” Unlike most commerical brands of “chili powder,” which usually include various other seasonings, additives and a ton of salt, this stuff was just pure ground chiles—the exact literal translation of chile molido puro.

I have not seen those cellophane packets in many years (I’m sure they’re only distributed regionally), and until a few days ago, I couldn’t even remember what the brand was called, but it’s amazing what one can find on the internet with only a few keywords in a search bar. Here’s one of the images the web found for me when I asked for “chile seasonings Colorado company:”

This is the REAL deal!

Just seeing the package made my heart giddy! It’s funny that whatever made you fall in love with a particular food becomes the standard, and I guess that’s what comfort food is all about! If you want to try something fun and new for Cinco de Mayo, give this recipe a try, either as I made it with ground turkey, or by substituting whatever sounds delicious to you.

Olé!

I haven’t been able to get my hands on a package of the Fernandez seasoning just yet, so I’ve substituted ground ancho chile powder for my enchilada sauce. Always read the labels to see whether your seasoning includes other ingredients, and if you find that you have one labeled “chili powder,” with cumin, oregano and garlic, that will cover most of the flavors you need. If it also contains salt, adjust your salt and pepper accordingly.

My recipe for the sauce is very similar to what’s offered on the back of the Fernandez label, which recommends making a basic oil and flour paste, with garlic and seasonings for flavor and water to thicken (though I used a low-sodium veggie broth). If you find the flavors of your sauce too intense, you can tame it by adding a few tablespoons or up to a small can of tomato sauce. We crave intensity at our house, so I went the other direction and added a spoonful of pureed chipotle with adobo. We had some in the fridge because my hubby had just made a batch of his awesome smoky guacamole, which was perfect on top of these tostada stacks.

For the filling, I cooked up some ground turkey with onions and red bell peppers, a few shakes of my favorite Mexican spices and some black beans. Want more heat? Swap the red bell pepper for diced jalapeños. My mom always used ground beef, but turkey lightened this up a bit without sacrificing flavor. Ground chicken would also work, or you could skip the meat altogether in favor of additional beans or perhaps roasted sweet potatoes for body and texture. For a little pop of sweetness, I also added a little fire-roasted sweet corn, which we almost always have in the freezer.

Use whatever kind of Mexican melting cheese you like— cheddar, Monterey Jack or pepper jack work nicely, or Colby is good if you want really mild flavor. For best results, buy a block of cheese and shred it yourself. The stuff in the bag is coated with cellulose powder to keep the cheese from sticking, and the melting quality suffers. I promise, it’s worth the extra effort.

Store bought corn tortillas are fine for this, but if you want to go all out for Cinco de Mayo, consider making a batch of easy handmade corn tortillas. Give them a brief dip in hot oil to make them nice and crispy, then start layering! Filling mixture goes on first, then cheese and sauce. Second verse, same as the first.

After a third layer, finish the enchilada stack with a handful of shredded lettuce, a dollop of sour cream and fresh guacamole. And though tostadas are typically a handheld item, the stacked and sauced method here requires that you use a fork.

Turkey & Black Bean Stacked Tostadas

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: Average
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Cinco de Mayo is a great excuse for me to celebrate the flavors that I've loved since early childhood.


It’s best to prepare the chile sauce first, or perhaps even a day ahead so the flavors can mingle overnight in the fridge. The sauce can be rewarmed while you make the turkey-black bean filling.

Ingredients

  • 1 clove fresh garlic, minced
  • 3 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
  • 2 Tbsp. pure ground chile powder
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
  • A pinch of oregano (preferably Mexican)
  • 2 cups low-sodium vegetable (or chicken) broth
  • 1 Tbsp. pureed chipotle with adobo (optional; substitute tomato sauce for milder flavor)

Directions

  1. Heat a small saucepan over medium heat. Swirl in olive oil and saute garlic briefly, just until it begins to bubble.
  2. Add flour and whisk to combine. Let this cook until bubbly, then add seasonings and broth.
  3. Whisk constantly until mixture begins to thicken.
  4. Stir in chipotle with adobo (or tomato sauce) and reduce heat to a simmer while you prepare the tostada filling.

Any other ground meat may be substituted for the ground turkey. If you prefer to keep the tostada stacks meatless, swap the ground turkey for refried beans. Swap other ingredients as desired, but aim to incorporate flavors and textures that will complement each other, such as roasted sweet potatoes and sauteed mushrooms.

Ingredients

  • 1 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 medium sweet or yellow onion, chopped
  • 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
  • 2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
  • 1 pound lean ground turkey
  • 1/2 tsp. Ground Chile powder
  • 1/2 tsp. Ground cumin
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1/2 cup fire-roasted sweet corn (frozen is fine)
  • 12 regular size corn tortillas
  • Vegetable oil for frying (peanut or canola oil are good)
  • Shredded lettuce, sour cream and guacamole for topping

Directions

  1. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil, then sauté onions and bell peppers until softened. Add garlic and cook until fragrant.
  2. Push the vegetables to the outer edges of the pan and add turkey, half at a time, to the center of the pan. Cook until browned and then add remaining turkey to finish cooking.
  3. Add seasonings, black beans and corn. Stir and cook until heated through. 
  4. Reduce heat to keep mixture warm while you prepare the tortillas.
  5. Place a second skillet over medium heat, and add oil to about 1/2-inch depth. 
  6. Fry tortillas, one at a time, until crispy (about 2 minutes) and blot on paper towels.
  7. Create stacks, beginning with a tortilla base, topped with turkey-black bean mixture, cheese and sauce. Follow with two more layers.
  8. Top finished stack with a handful of shredded lettuce, sour cream and guacamole.

Les’s Nachos for Dinner

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One of the things I like about my marriage is how Terrie and I respect each other’s kitchen capabilities. I certainly know and trust in her judgment, but she also respects the way I can surprise her once in a while with a “guy” food. Like, say, nachos.

As with many guys, I like nachos from days in the sports bars. Great eats while grabbing a beer and watching a game. Somewhere along in my adulting—and I believe it began with thinking of new uses for leftover chili, but I can’t say for sure—I decided I could do nachos every bit as good as a sports bar, whose chips were typically stale and plentiful, while toppings were bland and sparse.

Over the years, I refined my approach to use a block of cheddar or Monterey jack or something similar (a suggestion from Terrie, who, as regular readers of this blog know, abhors shredded cheese in a bag), a fun protein and any of a number of complementary items before the oven or after: fire-roasted corn, onions, black beans, refried beans, pickled jalapenos (or fresh if you slice them thinly), scallions, avocados, guacamole, sour cream, salsa.

Lots of flavor and texture here.

The nachos I’m sharing here feature Terrie’s homemade chorizo, which I fried in a cast-iron pan along with some diced onions and then set aside. We prepped (Terrie contributed here, serving as my sous chef, a definite change of pace for us!) by chopping up some pickled jalapeno peppers (dry them first), avocado and scallions, while I shredded a little better than a cup combined of sharp cheddar and habanero cheddar. The fun part is putting this bad boy together. OK, I kid you all. It’s incredibly simple.

The homemade sausage is fairly lean, so I drizzled a little oil into the pan as it cooked. Terrie got the fresh toppings ready for me.

Preheat your oven to 350 F. Put a piece of parchment over a cookie sheet and then lay your favorite tortilla chips on to cover the surface. We used a blue corn chip put out by a company called Xochitl. They were very good, but if you can find a local restaurant with an awesome, homemade fresh chip, so much the better. A moment here to lament the loss of Tijuana Flats, a small national chain that was our “go-to” place for chips, which were freshly made, thin and perfectly seasoned. We used to buy bags of them for just $1.25 to complement any Southwestern or Mexican dish we made; these chips were the flagship of our annual Super Bowl party. Alas, the local restaurant closed at the start of the pandemic and we still miss it. The Xochitl brand is as close as we’ve found.

Be sure your toppings have good coverage over the layer of chips, then bury it in cheese.

Anyway, with your chips nicely arranged (you shouldn’t see any big parchment peeking through), top first with your protein, which today was the chorizo-onion mix. I then sprinkled on a generous amount of chopped jalapenos and fire-roasted corn, and then the cheese. Off to the oven it went for 10 minutes. The nachos are done when the cheese is nice and melted. A side note here: We had believed a pre-made queso would work great rather than grated cheese, but it doesn’t. The heat of the oven breaks up the queso, and it runs underneath the chips, which makes them soggy. Freshly grated cheese is the way to go.

Fresh toppings, such as scallions and avocados, are added just before serving.

I topped this batch of nachos with scallions and diced avocado, and we served salsa and sour cream on the table. Probably a dozen or more years ago, I found this very wide spatula for handling fish and, wouldn’t you know, it works great for portioning out a generous mound of hot nachos.

Just call me Nacho Daddy!

Les's Nachos for Dinner

  • Servings: About 4
  • Difficulty: Easy
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Somewhere along in my adulting, I decided I could do nachos every bit as good as a sports bar. Here is my latest iteration of this 'guy food' served up as a meal at home.


Ingredients

  • About 1/2 pound bulk chorizo sausage (or other protein)
  • 1/2 medium sweet or yellow onion, chopped
  • Salt and pepper as needed (use your judgment, based on the flavor of your protein)
  • Enough corn tortilla chips to evenly cover a baking pan (about 1/2 standard bag)
  • 1/4 cup sliced pickled jalapenos, blotted on paper towels
  • 1/2 cup fire-roasted corn kernels (frozen is fine)
  • 1 cup grated cheddar cheese (or other variety, such as Monterey Jack or colby; preferably not pre-shredded from a bag)
  • 2 scallions, white and green parts thinly sliced
  • 1/2 large avocado, cubed
  • Sour cream and salsa, for serving

Feel free to substitute any favorite protein you have on hand. I’ve used cut-up chicken, ground turkey, ground beef and even black beans; it all works! If your chosen protein is unseasoned, consider adding some chili powder or other Southwest seasoning to the meat as it cooks. If you prefer less heat, swap in bell pepper for the jalapenos and saute them with the meat and onions.

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F, with rack in center position. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat and cook sausage with onions until the meat is browned and onions are softened.
  3. Arrange tortilla chips over parchment paper. It’s OK for the chips to overlap, but aim for a single layer so that each chip gets some toppings. Scatter the cooked sausage-onion mixture evenly over the chips, followed by the jalapenos, roasted corn and grated cheese.
  4. Bake at 350 F for about 10 minutes, until cheese is melted all over. Immediately top nachos with scallions and avocado. Serve with sour cream and salsa at the table.

Easy Buttermilk Dessert Sauce

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The next time you make a dessert that needs a sauce, but you aren’t quite sure what sauce is right, it’s this one. This is the sauce.

It is sweet and slightly salty like caramel, but without the fuss. It’s rich and elegant like an anglaise, but without cream or eggs. And it has the warm color of butterscotch, but it isn’t that either. This easy buttermilk sauce is neutral in flavor, so you can turn it any number of directions with a splash of vanilla, a sprinkle of cinnamon or pie spice—hey, even a shot of booze! You can pour it warm right over a baked dessert or ice cream sundae, or chill it to drizzle over fresh berries. It’s oozing with possibilities!

Any extra sauce keeps nicely in the fridge, and can either be warmed in a saucepan or the microwave.

There are no complicated ingredients, and the sauce comes together in under 15 minutes, so you can even make it last minute if you discover too late that your dessert needs a little help (we’ve all been there). Most recently, I made this with vanilla bean paste and a half-shot of vanilla whiskey to accompany a batch of bread pudding, made from cardamom-scented cinnamon rolls and dried cherries. The combo of bread pudding and sauce was sooo good!

You take both bread puddings. I’m just gonna drink this extra sauce.

Begin with a cup of buttermilk, the good, thick kind. Put it on medium heat with 3/4 cup of cane sugar and half a stick of salted butter. Most dessert recipes call for unsalted butter, but here, the salted butter is just right to complement the sweetness of the sauce. I whisk a little bit of corn syrup into the sauce as well, as it helps to prevent the sauce from crystallizing when it cools.

After the butter has melted and the sugar is dissolved, it’s time for the magic ingredient, which is a miniscule amount of (drumroll, please) baking soda! Remember, the miraculous ingredient I posted about in September that makes grilled shrimp so juicy and delicious? The baking soda works wonders in this buttermilk dessert sauce, too, and for the same scientific reason. Watch and see.

The alkaline properties of baking soda launch a chemical reaction with the acidic buttermilk, so you want to use a saucepan that is large enough to hold three times the volume of the buttermilk. Almost immediately after you whisk in the soda, the mixture will froth and foam like crazy, and as you whisk and cook for 5 or 6 minutes, the buttermilk will transform into a semi-translucent, golden sweet syrup.

Whisk constantly as the sauce cooks.

Turn off the heat, stir in vanilla and any other flavor enhancer that sounds good to you. As it cools, the buttermilk glaze will thicken slightly into a sauce consistency. It’s so delicious, you may find yourself coming up with new dessert recipes just to make another batch! What will you use it on this weekend?

When the pan is removed from the heat, the froth dies down to reveal a lovely, golden sauce.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering about the bread pudding, just follow my Gram’s basic recipe outline which is, in my opinion, the best bread pudding ever! Use your imagination to flavor the sauce to suit your own dessert, and let me know in the comments what you think of it!

Easy Buttermilk Dessert Sauce

  • Servings: About 8
  • Difficulty: Easy
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The next time you have a baked dessert that needs a sauce, but you aren’t quite sure what sauce is right, it’s this one. This is the sauce.


Ingredients

  • 1 cup real cultured buttermilk (lowfat is fine)
  • 3/4 cup cane sugar
  • 1/4 cup butter (4 Tbsp.)
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 Tbsp. corn syrup
  • 1 Tbsp. Crown vanilla whiskey (optional, but yum)
  • 1 tsp. vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)

Be sure to use a saucepan that is three times larger than you expect you’ll need. When the buttermilk and baking soda collide, things get big and foamy in a hurry! Feel free to swap out the vanilla for almond, a smidge of cinnamon or another flavor to suit whatever dessert you’ll be dressing up with this sauce.

Directions

  1. Combine buttermilk, sugar and butter in a large saucepan. Whisk over medium heat until sugar is dissolved and butter is fully melted.
  2. Whisk in the baking soda and get ready for some dramatic foaminess. Continue to cook and whisk the mixture for about 6 minutes after it reaches a boil. You will notice that the color of the sauce deepens to a warm, golden color.
  3. Turn off heat and whisk or stir until the foaminess subsides. Stir in vanilla and any other flavor enhancer you like. For ground spices such as cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon is probably about right. Add whiskey or other liquor, if desired.
  4. Allow the sauce to rest for a few minutes. Serve right away or refrigerate if making it ahead. This sauce warms up nicely in a saucepan or in the microwave.

Spooky Stuffed Peppers

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Before the kiddos head out for trick or treating on Monday night, parents hope that they have a decent, balanced meal in their little bellies. You know, so that they aren’t just chowing down on sugar from all those Snickers, Reeses and Skittles that they get in their trick-or-treat bags.

In my limited experience with children, I learned one lesson loud and clear—a simple way to get kids interested in eating good-for-them food is to make it FUN.

With a little imagination, you can turn an ordinary bell pepper into a fun Halloween supper, and you can fill it with whatever your kids (or grandkids, great-grandkids, neighbor kids, friends’ kids, etc.) like to eat. Mine are stuffed with cooked ground turkey in a Mexican-ish flavor profile—a combination of onions, green bell peppers, celery, garlic and Rotel tomatoes, spiffed up with chili powder and tomato paste—but there’s no reason you couldn’t change it up and make it Italian. Or Greek. Or vegan with a kale and quinoa kind of thing. Or any other combination you think the kids would like to eat. For the big kids at our house (that would be me and my husband), I went in big for veggies and lean protein.

Use any combination of vegetables that makes sense for the flavors you like.

You could use another color of bell pepper if you’d like, but the orange ones are good here, not only for their impersonation of a jack o’lantern, but also because hungry trick or treaters may be more receptive to their flavor, which is sweeter than a typical green bell pepper.

Choose peppers with a good stem, and peppers that will stand up on their own.

To prep the peppers, carefully slice the tops off, taking note of how far down the stem extends so that you keep the top of the pepper intact. Clean out the seeds and excess membranes, and then place the peppers, upside-down, into a glass baking dish with about one inch of water. Put the pepper tops in there, too, and microwave them on high for about five minutes. This will steam and soften the peppers so that they don’t need as much time in the oven after they are stuffed.

When they are cool enough to handle, use the top of a sharp paring knife to cut out triangle eyes and a nose into each bell pepper body. If you’re feeling extra creative, you could also cut a toothy smile into the peppers, too, but be careful because you don’t want the filling to seep out of its whole face.

Preheat the oven, with a rack in the center position. Heat a little olive oil in a skillet and sauté the vegetables until they are just softened. Remember to season with salt and pepper, and then add the spice seasonings to bloom their flavors. Crumble in the ground turkey, a little at a time, and toss to stir until no pink color remains. Add the Rotel and a little tomato paste to intensify the tomato flavor, and a pinch of dried Mexican oregano.

I stuffed my peppers with a Mexican-themed filling, but you could take this in so many other directions!

Spoon the filling into the peppers, lay a slice of sharp cheddar over the filling, and then reposition the pepper tops before sliding it into the oven. At this point, all the ingredients are fully cooked, so the peppers only need to be in the oven long enough to heat through, finish softening and melt the cheese.

Try to position the cheese so that it won’t melt into your peppers’ “eyes!”

Serve the peppers right away with a few spoonfuls of cooked rice, and get those kids costumed up for their night of fun!

Spooky Stuffed Peppers

  • Servings: 4 peppers
  • Difficulty: Average
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This is a fun way to feed the little ones something on the healthy side before they go trick-or-treating for all that candy. Mix and match ingredients based on what the kids like.


Ingredients

  • 4 orange bell peppers (choose them for shape and size, plus strong stems)
  • 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 sweet onion, chopped
  • 2 ribs celery, trimmed and chopped
  • 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 tsp. salt-free seasoning (I used a combination of chili powder, cumin and paprika)
  • 1 lb. fresh ground turkey (or other lean ground meat)
  • 10 oz. can Rotel diced tomatoes (there are many heat levels; choose what’s right for you)
  • 2 Tbsp. tomato paste
  • A pinch or two of dried oregano
  • 4 slices sharp cheddar or other favorite melting cheese
  • Brown rice, for serving

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F, with oven rack in center position.
  2. Wash the bell peppers. Carefully cut the tops off the peppers, low enough to keep the stems intact. Remove seeds and membranes and place the peppers upside down in a microwave-safe dish. Add about an inch of water to the dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes, or longer if needed until peppers are somewhat softened. Set aside until cool enough to handle.
  3. While the peppers are cooling, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add oil to the pan and sauté onions, green bell pepper and celery for about 5 minutes, until softened. Add garlic, salt and pepper, plus salt-free seasoning of your choice. Cook another minute.
  4. Crumble ground meat into the skillet, about half at a time so it doesn’t overcrowd the pan. When meat is no longer pink, add the Rotel tomatoes, tomato paste and dried oregano. Cook until mixture is bubbly, then turn off heat and cover the pan.
  5. Use a sharp paring knife to carefully cut out triangle eyes and noses in each of the bell peppers (toss the bits into the pan with the rest of the filling).
  6. Spoon the filling into the peppers. Arrange a slice of cheddar over each pepper, positioning the slices so that they will not melt to cover the eyes on the peppers. Replace the pepper tops and bake (uncovered) for 25 minutes, until heated through and cheese is melted. Serve immediately with brown rice.