Peppers can be stuffed with anything really, so our Mexican Stuffed Peppers are great with rice, chicken, sweet potatoes, black beans, chilli con carne… The secret is to add a layer of cheese! Use any shape of bell pepper, but the long ones look fun! If you have some leftover Arroz con Pollo, use this instead of the rice and chicken below. serves 4

• 4 peppers, cut in half lengthways but keeping the stalks

• a little vegetable oil for greasing the dish and sprinkling over the peppers

• 120g grated cheddar/edam

• 150g cooked rice (cooked weight)

• 1 cooked chicken breast, shredded

• 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1 cm cubes

• 1 small tin or half 400g tin black beans, drained

1. Place the peppers in a large, shallow oiled dish and drizzle some oil over the top.

2. Add the sweet potatoes to the side of the dish, then cook everything in a medium oven for about 30 minutes. If the potato is still on the hard side, remove the peppers and keep cooking it until tender.

3. Meanwhile heat 1 tbsp mexican spice (or see below) in a pan with some oil and stir in the rice, chicken, beans and heat through. Add the sweet potato when it is ready.

4. Sprinkle the cheese inside the peppers and return to the oven for about 5 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.

5. Share the rice mixture between the peppers and serve.

Cook’s notes

• Leave out the chicken or cheese if you want a vegan or vegetarian option, and maybe add more sweet potato.

• Use 1 heaped tsp each of smoked paprika and ground cumin if you don’t have any of our delicious Mexican blend!

• Leftover chilli con carne is also lovely served in this way.