Pesto Chicken Salad in mini peppers

By S. Danford

Ingredients

• 20 mini sweet peppers (1-2 inches long)
• 1 cup chopped cooked cubed chicken
• 2 T onion, finely chopped
• 2 T yellow or red sweet pepper, finely chopped
• 3 T purchased basil pesto
• 2 T mayo
• 1/8 t pepper

Preparation

Step 1

1. To make pepper shells, cut off on third of peppers lengthwise, leaving stems on shell portion. Finely chop some of the removed pepper to use for the salad. Remove seeds and membranes from pepper shells.

2. For salad, combine the chicken, onion, and chopped sweet pepper. In a different bowl, combine the pesto, mayo, and black pepper. Add the pesto mixture to the chicken mixture, stirring to combine.

3. To serve, spoon some chicken mixture into each pepper portion. Arrange peppers on a serving platter.

Alternative:
Use roma tomatoes for the shells.
Cut 8-10 roma tomatoes in half lengthwise. Scoop out and discard the tomato pulp. Place the tomato shells, cut sides down, on paper towels to drain. Let stand for 30 minutes. Just before serving, spoon some chicken salad into each tomato shell.

To make ahead:
Prepare filled vegetables as directed and cover with plastic wrap.
Refrigerate for up to 2 hours (tomatoes for up to 1 hour)