Has this ever happened to you?
You start your week with a plan of what you’re going to get done, what you’re going to cook, and how accomplished you will feel by Friday. Monday starts out strong. You make it through a backlog of emails, followed by a grocery store run, a stop at the post office, 3 returned business calls, and you even find time to get the car washed. Come Monday evening, you have a fresh, healthy meal ready to go, and you time the components perfectly to be ready at the same time. You end the day with a well-deserved glass of wine, and get ready for Tuesday.
And then suddenly, you look at the calendar and it’s FRIDAY.
Um, ex-squeeze me? Where the heck did Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday go? Did they get erased from the week? Is this a hangover from the switch to Daylight Savings Time? Is it a full moon or something??
Nope, the well-planned week just got away from you. And now it’s Friday and you have no clue what to make for dinner. Good times, huh?
Luckily, I am the queen of using leftovers in new ways. I force myself to get creative and go into multi-tasking mode one more time this week. I check the fridge and the pantry, and I let loose, never sure where the resulting meal will take me. This my friends, is one of those meals. And DAMMIT, I have to say it is darned tasty!
By mid-week I was relying heavily on my crock pot, which I do a lot of this time of year. I made one of my favorite, now-tried-and-true recipes from Creme de la Crumb for delicious Slow Cooker Jalapeno Chicken Taquitos. Since there are only two of us in the house, this recipe makes enough for leftovers of many kinds. I reached for the shredded chicken and then headed into the pantry. Thank goodness I tend to be a bit of a pack rat when it comes to pantry items because after I grabbed a can of red beans, some farro, and a couple poblano peppers, I was ready to go!
This fantastic recipe came together in to time flat, and BAM, dinner was ready in a flash. Tex-Mex Stuffed Poblanos are so good, they left me wanting leftovers of leftovers! Filling, healthy, satisfying–a new recipe from something leftover. One more thing checked off of the weekly to-do list!
Now THAT’S the way to end a busy week.
| Servings | Prep Time |
| 4 people | 20 minutes |
| Cook Time |
| 15 minutes |
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If you have read other posts here, you know that I love using leftovers and making them tasty and new again. This recipe fits that description to a T. And the thing I think I love most about it is that if I have leftovers AGAIN, I can use the peppers the next day and toss it with a salad. Double bonus, and double delicious!
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- 4 poblano peppers, roasted
- 1 can low-sodium red kidney beans, rinsed
- 1 cup cooked farro
- 2 cups leftover shredded Tex-Mex chicken (see post for recipe link)
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray an oven-safe baking dish with cooking spray. Cook the farro per package instructions.
- Mix shredded red beans, cooked farro, and shredded chicken.
- Roast poblanos until skin is charred (do not remove the skin). Slice top off of peppers and remove seeds and membranes from inside each pepper.
- Slice top off of peppers and remove seeds and membranes from inside each pepper. Fill each one with the chicken mixture.
- Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes, or until heated all the way through.
- Serve, and cross the task of using up leftovers off your list!
As mentioned, this fabulous use of leftovers could actually mean even MORE leftovers depending on how much you have to start with, and how many people you're feeding. I say go ahead and use up all the chicken you have and enjoy these peppers for an additional meal! I like pulling them out of the fridge the next day, and serving them chilled over a bed of greens.
So. Darned. Delicious. All hail the leftover, and all hail the Tex Mex Stuffed Poblano Peppers!
I love stuffed poblanos and when you use up leftovers in the same meal it’s a double win. Plus, it’s what my husband calls a “mitzvah” meal – a good deed because you didn’t let food go to waste.
I like that! I may start calling these meals that, too. Much nicer sounding than “plain old leftovers”! :o)
This happens to me all the time, I look up and it’s the end of the week already. I love this idea for a quick meal, it looks delicious!
What an awesome idea! I LOVE how easy they are to make and how packed full of flavor they are.
This is definitely up my alley. Most nights I’m looking for easy dinners, and I love anything Mexican, Tex-Mex, Southwestern style. Poblanos are so delicious!
Tex Mex is one of the easiest “themes” to incorporate into leftovers. At least IMHO. :o)
I have never used Poblano peppers before and this is the perfectly delicious reason to do so! Love the use of left-overs so nothing is wasted!
You will want to use them in everything once you roast and use them in even one incarnation. Smoky and delicious!
This is an awesome way to use up leftovers! By Friday I’m all about the simple and easy dinners too. I totally want to make these!
I say if it’s leftover, stuff it in a vegetable and call it dinner! LOL
I love it when leftovers turn out to be a new favorite meal! you can never go wrong with tex-mex flavors
Tex-Mex–the go-to flavors of leftovers everywhere. Ha ha